Accident Details
On a night cargo flight from Bergamo-Orio al Serio Airport to Zagreb, a twin-engine aircraft departed runway 28 carrying two pilots, one passenger (the captain's wife), and a load of 1,600 kilograms of small packages. During climb in foggy conditions, the aircraft entered a left turn and descended, striking a powerline before crashing in an open field one kilometer north of the airfield. The aircraft disintegrated on impact, and all three occupants were killed.
Investigation Findings
The official investigation determined that the cause of the accident was a loss of control in flight. While the exact reason for the loss of control could not be established with incontrovertible certainty, investigators reasonably assumed it stemmed from a deterioration in crew situation awareness during the initial climb immediately after takeoff. Factors that may have contributed to this loss of situation awareness included: the displacement or incorrect positioning of the load, which could have induced a rolling moment not immediately perceived and corrected by the crew; and spatial disorientation possibly caused by an optical illusion from the high-speed "E" taxiway lights, which, penetrating the thick fog, may have led the pilot to veer, resulting in the final loss of control. Additionally, the co-pilot's limited flight experience and the crew's inadequate application of Crew Resource Management (CRM) techniques prevented timely identification of the hazardous situation and necessary recovery actions.