Alitalia flight 404
| Alitalia flight 404 | |
|---|---|
 The crashed machine in Paris in August 1990 |
|
| Accident summary | |
| Accident type | CFIT due to instrument failure |
| place | Weiach , Switzerland |
| date | November 14, 1990 |
| Fatalities | 46 |
| Survivors | 0 |
| Injured | 0 |
| Aircraft | |
| Aircraft type | DC-9 |
| operator | Alitalia |
| Mark | I-ATJA |
| Departure airport | Milan |
| Destination airport | Zurich |
| Passengers | 40 |
| crew | 6th |
| Lists of aviation accidents | |
Alitalia Flight 404 was a scheduled flight of Alitalia from Milan to Zurich . The aircraft of the type McDonnell Douglas DC-9-32 had an accident on November 14, 1990 while approaching Zurich Airport . All 46 people on board were killed.
Aircraft
The DC-9 was around 16 years old at the time of the accident and had completed 33,886 flight hours.
Course of the accident
The captain's ILS cross pointer instrument was defective and, although the aircraft was 300 meters too low, showed a centered glide path display during the entire final approach to RWY 14 at Zurich Airport, i.e. the ideal approach path. The copilot's ILS instrument was functioning correctly and indicated that the approach was too low. However, the captain fatally decided - without sufficient error analysis - to ignore the device providing the correct values and not to inform the Zurich-Kloten tower of the difference. A go-around maneuver initiated by the copilot shortly before the crash was interrupted on the instructions of the master. Finally, between Weiach and Stadel, there was an impact on the Stadlerberg (altitude 637 m above sea level ), with all 40 passengers and the six crew members being killed.
consequences
The chain of unfortunate circumstances led to recommendations by the aircraft accident investigation commission. Among other things, improved procedural rules were introduced between the two pilots during the landing approach and information about the possibility of incorrect readings of the altimeter was given. Above all, however, the operating regulations have been amended to the effect that an initiated go-around maneuver may no longer be aborted.
An obstruction light was installed on the Stadlerberg . In 1993, Swisscontrol set up a warning system at Zurich and Geneva airports that warns air traffic controllers if an aircraft already threaded in the instrument landing system flies too low.
On a forest road in the forest, a memorial stone and a wooden cross commemorate the 46 victims of the plane crash.
Web links
- Final report of the Federal Aircraft Accident Investigation Commission. (PDF file; 3.6 MB) ( Archive ( Memento from August 20, 2014 on WebCite ))
- Blog post about the events from the point of view of the Weiach community
- ZRH-Spotter.ch, reporting on the AZ404 accident. ( Memento from April 1, 2015 in the Internet Archive ) Incl. Video.
- Alois Feusi: plane crash 25 years ago. Defective device and fatal power word. In: Neue Zürcher Zeitung of November 11, 2015.
Individual evidence
- ↑ Aircraft accident data and report in the Aviation Safety Network (English)
- ↑ a b Alois Feusi: Plane crash 25 years ago. Defective device and fatal power word. In: Neue Zürcher Zeitung of November 11, 2015.
Coordinates: 47 ° 32 '44.6 " N , 8 ° 26' 48.6" E ; CH1903: 675900 / 266 600