Mountains

Flight AZ660 to Montreal, Canada departed Rome-Fiumicino Airport, Italy at 13:15. An intermediate stop was planned at Milan-Malpensa Airport. The airplane climbed in VMC to the en route altitude of FL220. The en route part of the flight was uneventful. While descending to the south of the airport, preparing for an approach to runway 35, the aircraft entered IMC with heavy turbulence due to the presence of a thunderstorm in the area. About 13:59 the flight was cleared from 9,000 feet down to 4,000 feet for a straight-in approach. Three minutes later the pilot advised that he would make a 360° turn over the beacon as the aircraft was at 6,000 feet. On completion of the turn, at an altitude of 1,500 feet, the flight continued on runway heading and descending. At 14:06 the flight crew became unsure of their position and almost immediately the airplane struck a wooded hillside 11,5 km north of Milan runway 35. 13 passengers were killed while 22 others were injured. 60 people were uninjured. The aircraft was destroyed by impact forces and a post crash fire.

The crew departed Castle AFB on a training mission. After completing a simulated emergency descent from FL390 to FL230, the pilot-in-command initiated a sharp turn when control was lost. The airplane crashed on Mt Lassen and was totally destroyed. All nine crew members were killed.

The crew started the descent to Recife-Guararapes Airport by night when at an altitude of 1,890 feet, the four engine aircraft struck the slope of a mountain located some 80 km northwest of Recife. The wreckage was found few hours later and all 10 crew members were killed.

The crew was engaged in a fire fighting mission near McGrath. While flying at low height, the airplane stuck the slope of a mountain and crashed, killing all four occupants.

On the leg from Daraut-Kurgan to Osh of a flight from Dzhargital to Osh, the crew encountered below-minima weather conditions (thunderstorm and rain). He failed to return, lost orientation and deviated from the prescribed flight path to the west by 10 km. The single engine aircraft crashed at a height of 4,000 metres into the steep slope of a mountain (4,170 metres) located some 15 km southwest of Sufi-Kurgan. The wreckage was found two days later and all 14 occupants were killed.

While cruising by night, the crew encountered poor visibility due to fog. At ant insufficient altitude, the twin engine aircraft struck the slope of a mountain located near Beverly. The aircraft was destroyed upon impact and both pilots were killed.

While on a cargo flight from São Paulo to Recife, the airplane crashed in unknown circumstances in the Coelhos Mountain Range, near Gravatá. All three crew members were killed.

The crew started the approach to Bodø Airport in limited visibility when the twin engine aircraft struck the slope of a mountain located on the Fugløya Island, some 32 km southwest of runway 07 threshold. The aircraft was destroyed and both crew members were killed. Controlled flight into terrain is suspected.

The airplane was engaged in a demonstration tour within Europe on behalf of the Italian manufacturer Piaggio. On approach to runway 22 in poor weather conditions, the pilot decided to make a go around and initiated a turn to the right when the airplane struck the slope of Mt Jaizkibel located 4 km west of the airport. The wreckage was found about 15 meters below the summit and all six occupants were killed, among them the Italian businessman Lino Zanussi.
Crew/passengers:
Lino Zanussi,
Alfio di Vora,
Giovanni Battista Talotti,
Diego Hurtado de Mendoza,
Sergio Milich,
Davide Albertazzi.

This was the inaugural flight from Aguascalientes to Mexico City for Aerovias Rojas. While approaching Mexico City-Benito Juarez Airport from the north, the crew failed to realize his altitude was too low when the airplane struck the top of a hill located near Villa del Carbón. The wreckage was found 55 km northwest of Mexico Airport and all 18 occupants were killed.