Alitalia Flight 404
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An Alitalia McDonnell Douglas DC-9 similar to the one involved. | |
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| Date | 14 November 1990 |
| Summary | Controlled flight into terrain |
| Site | Zurich, Switzerland |
| Passengers | 40 |
| Crew | 6 |
| Fatalities | 46 |
| Survivors | 0 |
| Aircraft type | McDonnell Douglas DC-9 |
| Aircraft name | Sicilia |
| Operator | Alitalia |
| Registration | I-ATJA |
| Flight origin | Linate Airport |
| Destination | Zurich Airport |
Alitalia Flight 404, flown by a McDonnell Douglas DC-9-32 aircraft, crashed near the Zurich airport, Switzerland on 14 November 1990. The airplane with 46 people on board made a controlled flight into the mountain Stadlerberg, 5 miles short of the runway, because of a faulty ILS receiver. All on board died.[1]
The plane
The DC-9 was about 16 years old at the time of the accident and had accumulated 33,886 hours in the air.
Course of the accident
The pilot's ILS display gave false values due to a faulty receiver and showed about 1000 feet of additional altitude and a centered glide scope while approaching Zurich airport at runway 14, even though it flew much too low. The ILS receiver of the co-pilot was working correctly and was showing the dangerously low approach. Despite this the captain decided – without thoroughly examining which was the correct value – to ignore the second device. A go-around maneuver initiated by the co-pilot was aborted by the captain. Shortly afterwards at 19:11 CET the plane struck a mountain, the Stadlerberg at 1660 ft. All 40 Passengers and six crew perished in the accident.
Aftermath
Reviewing chain of events that led to the accident the investigation board has made several recommendations to avoid similar scenarios. Improved rules for communication among pilot and co-pilot during landing have been implemented as well as possibilities of misreading flight altimeters been pointed out. Most importantly new rules prohibit go-arounds to be aborted once they have been initiated.
References
- ↑ "46 Die in Crash of Alitalia Plane In Mountainous Area Near Zurich." Reuters at The New York Times. November 15, 1990.
External links
- Final report on the accident by the official commission (Archive) - Federal Aircraft Accidents Inquiry Board
- (German) Final report on the accident by the official commission (Archive) - Federal Aircraft Accidents Inquiry Board - Original version in German: Pages 53-57/57 (PDF Document p. 53-57 of 154) are a summary in French
- ASN Aircraft accident McDonnell Douglas DC-9-32 I-ATJA Stadlerberg
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Coordinates: 47°32′50″N 8°26′51″E / 47.54722°N 8.44750°E