The Inexplicable and Sad Tale of Alitalia Flight 772

 Alitalia Flight 772

Alitalia Flight 772 was a one-leg Douglas DC-8-43 international scheduled flight from Munich to Palermo with 94 on board. On July 7, 1962 18:40 UTC, it crashed into a hill about 11 kilometres east of the airport while on approach.

Aircraft

The aircraft involved in the accident was a Douglas DC-8-43 constructed in 1962 and registered as I-DIWD to Alitalia. At the time of the accident the aircraft had recorded 964 flight hours. The registration and airworthiness certificates were valid. The Captain of the flight had signed the Certificate of Maintenance on 6 July 1962. The aircraft was equipped with a VHF navigation receiver, glide slope receiver, marker beacon receiver, ADF receiver, Loran receiver, doppler radar, and a transponder; but the aircraft did not have any flight recorders.

No mechanical issues were reported, and the centre of gravity and weight of the DC-8 were within permitted parameters.

Crew and passengers

Nine crew members were aboard the flight. The cockpit crew consisted of:

·        Captain Luigi Bierra who was 50 years old and had been a pilot since 1939. He had accumulated 13,700 flight hours, of which 1,396 were on the Douglas DC-8

·        The Co-pilot Giovanni Arcangeli was 33 years old and had been a pilot since 1956. He had accumulated a total of 3,480 flight hours, of which 1,672 had been from flying as co-pilot on the DC-8.

·        The Flight Engineer Alberto Pontana was 31 years old and had 4,070 flight hours, of which 386 were from flying on the DC-8.

The remaining six members of the crew were flight attendants. Both the captain and co-pilot were trained navigators, but there was no individual navigator in the flight crew. There were 85 passengers, most of German nationality, also 3 Peruvians and 6 Italians.

Accident
Date	July 7, 1962, 18:40 UTC
Summary	Controlled flight into terrain due to Pilot error
Site	11 km E of Palermo, Italy
Aircraft
Aircraft type	Douglas DC-8-43
Operator	Alitalia
Registration	I-DIWD
Flight origin	Munich Airport (MUC), Germany
Destination	Punta Raisi Airport (PMO), Palermo, Italy
Passengers	85
Crew	9
Fatalities	94
Survivors	0