Aircraft and Crew
The aircraft involved was a Douglas DC-8-43 (registration I-DIWD) built in 1962. It had accumulated 964 flight hours. The captain, Luigi Quattrin, was 50 years old with 13,700 flight hours, including 1,396 on the DC-8. The co-pilot was Ugo Arcangeli, aged 33, with 3,480 flight hours. The flight engineer was Luciano Fontana, aged 31, with 4,070 flight hours. Both pilots were trained navigators, but no dedicated navigator was carried. The aircraft was equipped with VOR, glide slope, marker beacon, ADF, Loran, doppler radar, and a transponder. No flight recorders were installed. No mechanical issues were reported, and weight and balance were within limits.
Flight History
Flight 771 was a multi-leg service from Sydney, Australia, to Rome, Italy, with stops at Darwin, Bangkok, Bombay, Karachi, and Tehran. After picking up passengers in Sydney, Darwin, and Singapore, the flight departed Bangkok on July 7, 1962, at 15:16 UTC with 94 people on board per the load sheet, although the flight plan indicated 98. The flight plan was not signed by the captain, violating the Alitalia Operations Manual. At 17:20 UTC, the flight contacted Bombay Flight Information Center, requesting a weather forecast and reporting an estimated arrival time of 18:45 and altitude of 36,000 feet. Weather reports for Bombay indicated light rain but no thunderstorms or dangerous conditions.
Accident Sequence
At 18:20 UTC, Flight 771 switched to Bombay approach frequency and requested descent from Aurangabad to 20,000 feet. The descent was approved. At 18:24:36, the aircraft began descending from 35,000 to 20,000 feet. At 18:25, it was cleared to a transition level of 4,000 feet. Weather information was transmitted again at 18:28, with QNH 29.58 inches. At 18:29, the pilot indicated preference for landing on runway 27. At 18:38:34, the controller asked if the flight would make a 360-degree turn over the beacon or land directly. The flight responded "OK" at 18:38:49, causing confusion. Shortly after, it clarified it would make a 360-degree turn over the outer beacon. At 18:38:54, the DC-8 was at an altitude... The aircraft subsequently crashed into a hill approximately 84 kilometers northeast of Bombay at 18:40 UTC (local time 00:10 on July 8, 1962).