Aero Trasporti Italiani Flight 460

Aero Trasporti Italiani Flight 460

An ATR 42-300, similar to the one involved
Accident
Date	15 October 1987 (1987-10-15)
Summary	Icing and design flaw
Site	Mount Crezzo, Conca di Crezzo, Italy 45°54′34″N9°17′00″E / 45.9094°N 9.2834°E / 45.9094; 9.2834
Aircraft
Aircraft type	ATR 42-312
Aircraft name	Verona
Operator	Aero Trasporti Italiani
IATA flight No.	BM460
ICAO flight No.	ATI 460
Call sign	ATI 460
Registration	I-ATRH
Flight origin	Milan Linate Airport, Milan, Italy
Destination	Cologne Bonn Airport, Cologne, Germany
Occupants	37
Passengers	34
Crew	3
Fatalities	37
Survivors	0

Aero Trasporti Italiani Flight 460 was a scheduled passenger flight between Milan Linate Airport in Milan, Italy and Cologne Bonn Airport in Cologne, Germany on 15 October 1987. The flight was operated by Aero Trasporti Italiani (ATI), a subsidiary of Alitalia, using an ATR-42 turboprop aircraft.

Icing conditions existed at the time and 15 minutes after takeoff, while climbing through FL147 (14,700 feet (4,500 m)) in IAS hold mode (constant speed set at 133 knots (246 km/h; 153 mph)) the aircraft rolled left and right before crashing nose down into a 700-metre-high (2,300 ft) mountain following an uncontrolled descent. All 37 onboard the aircraft were killed.

Accident

Flight 460 took off from Milan-Linate airport at 7.13 pm, 53 minutes later than scheduled due to traffic and poor weather conditions. Fifteen minutes after taking off, the aircraft was climbing to an altitude of 14,700 feet (4,500 m), in IAS mode, at a constant speed of 133 knots (246 km/h; 153 mph), when it began a rotation movement to the right and left: 41° to the right, 100° to the left and then 105° to the right before another 135° roll to the left. During the movements, three anomalous pitch trim movements were made setting the elevator pitch to down, preventing a recovery. Moments before the aircraft disappeared from radar, the pilot contacted air traffic control to declare a mayday. The aircraft crashed nose down into Mount Crezzo, near Lake Como, following an uncontrolled descent. ^{[1] [2]}

Aircraft

The aircraft involved in the accident was an Aerospatiale ATR 42-312, serial number 046, registered as I-ATRH and named "Città di Verona". It was delivered brand new to ATI on 14 May 1987 equipped with two Pratt and Whitney PW120 turbo propeller engines. The aircraft was manufactured in Toulouse, France and held the test registration of F-WWEZ prior to delivery. Its first test flight was made on 24 April 1987. ^{[3] [4]}

Crew and passengers

Flight 460 had a crew of three. Lamberto Lainè (43) was the pilot, Pierluigi Lampronti (29) was the co-pilot and Carla Corneliani (35) was the flight attendant. ^[5]

Originally, 46 seats on the aircraft had been sold however only 30 passengers with reservations arrived on time. With the delay, a further 4 passengers were able to board the aircraft. ^[6] One notable passenger was German racing driver and two time Nürburgring 24 Hours champion, Axel Felder. ^[7]

Investigation

Local eye-witness reports suggested that the aircraft had crashed into a mountain in the Mount Crezzo area of the alps, near Lake Como and the towns of Magreglio and Barni. Local weather conditions at the time were poor, heavy rain in the area of the crash. Early searching for the aircraft was completed by rescue workers beaming a spotlight on the mountainside from the lakefront at Onno. ^{[8] [9]}

By the day following the crash, investigators located the aircraft and all 37 passengers and crew. They confirmed there were no survivors. At the same time one of the two black boxes was recovered. ^[10] The following day, the second black box was recovered from the crash site. ^[11]

Investigations by the Carabinieri Investigative Unit of the Provincial Command of Como and the Air Force showed that the weather conditions had caused the formation of ice on the wings of the ATR 42. The crew had failed to understand that the ice and the low speed would have stalled the plane. Instead, some of their maneuvers to regain speed, likely combined with poor management of the trim, led the plane to point towards the ground until it crashed into the mountain. ^[12]

An investigation of the judiciary led to a trial that saw the designer of the ATR 42 aircraft, Jean Rech, and three senior executives of ATI convicted for manslaughter. ^[13] However, in 1995 these sentences were annulled and all four men were acquitted. ^{[14] [15] [16]}

In popular culture

It was briefly mentioned on Air Crash Investigation Season 7 episode "Frozen in Flight", which depicted American Eagle Flight 4184, during the part depicting similar incidents with the ATR-72 involving icing conditions.

See also

• American Eagle Flight 4184
• Aero Caribbean Flight 883

References

1. "I-ATRH". Aviation Safety Network. Retrieved 23 August 2022.
2. "UN URLO: 'SIAMO IN EMERGENZA'" (in Italian). La Repubblica. Retrieved 23 August 2022.
3. "ATR 42/72 - MSN 046 - I-ATRH". Airfleets. Retrieved 23 August 2022.
4. "I-ATRH ATI - AERO TRASPORTI ITALIANI ATR 42". Planespotters. Retrieved 23 August 2022.
5. "ECCO I NOMI DEI PASSEGGERI A BORDO DEL ' CITTA' DI VERONA'" (in Italian). La Repubblica. Retrieved 23 August 2022.
6. "An Italian airliner with 37 people aboard crashed and..." UPI. Retrieved 23 August 2022.
7. "Axel Felder". Motorsport Memorial. Retrieved 23 August 2022.
8. "plane-with-37-aboard-crashes-in-italian-alps". The New York Times. Retrieved 23 August 2022.
9. "An Italian airliner with 37 people aboard crashed and..." UPI. Retrieved 23 August 2022.
10. "No survivors in Italian crash". UPI. Retrieved 23 August 2022.
11. "Investigators find second black box". UPI. Retrieved 23 August 2022.
12. "Understanding the Stall-recovery Procedure for Turboprop Airplanes in Icing Conditions" (PDF). Flight Safety Digest. Retrieved 23 August 2022.
13. "DISASTRO DELL' ATR42 PROGETTISTA CONDANNATO" (in Italian). La Repubblica. Retrieved 23 August 2022.
14. "La sciagura dell'ATR 42. In appello 4 condanne" (in Italian). Corriere della Sera. Retrieved 23 August 2022.
15. "La sciagura dell'ATR 42. In appello 4 condanne" (in Italian). Corriere della Sera. Retrieved 23 August 2022.
16. "Disastro Atr, nuova verità" (in Italian). Corriere della Sera. Retrieved 23 August 2022.