Incident Overview
A flight from Rome-Fiumicino to Palermo-Punta Raisi Airport concluded with a crash into the sea after a night approach. The crew began the descent under good visibility conditions, with visibility reported up to 10 km. They conducted a VOR/DME approach, continuing descent to 150 feet over the sea. At a distance of 3 km from the shore, the pilot-in-command (the copilot in this instance) initiated a slight left turn to align with runway 21. While flying at a speed of 150 knots, the left wing tip contacted the water surface, causing the aircraft to crash into the sea. All five crew members and 103 passengers lost their lives; 21 other occupants were rescued by fishermen.
Official Findings
The investigation determined that the final portion of the approach was executed in visual mode with a relatively low rate of descent. The approach was started prematurely, and the crew descended below the minimum descent altitude after missing several items on the approach checklist. It is possible that the crew was misled by the malfunction of one or more altimeters due to an erroneous indication of the warning flag. Douglas and Collins had informed Alitalia in 1975 already about the possible malfunction of those altimeters and their respective warning flag systems.