2002 Pirelli Tower airplane crash

Airplane crash in Milan, Italy

45°29′05″N 9°12′05″E / 45.48472°N 9.20139°E / 45.48472; 9.20139Total fatalities3 (1 on plane, 2 in building)Total injuries60AircraftAircraft typeRockwell Commander A112OperatorPrivateRegistrationHB-NCXFlight originLocarno Airport, Magadino, SwitzerlandPassengers0Crew1Fatalities1Survivors0Ground casualtiesGround fatalities2Ground injuries60

On 18 April 2002, at 17:48 (local time), a Rockwell Commander 112 crashed into the upper floors of the Pirelli Tower in Milan, Italy, for reasons still unclear. The crash killed the pilot and two others in the building. Sixty more people sustained injuries in the building and on the ground.

The crash raised fears of a terrorist attack because of the similarities with the September 11 attacks, which had occurred seven months earlier. A subsequent investigation ruled out terrorism as a motive.

Incident

A Rockwell Commander 112 similar to the aircraft involved in the accident.

The airplane, piloted by 65-year-old Luigi Fasulo, took off from Locarno Airport in Magadino, Switzerland, eighteen minutes before the crash. Later, as the airplane flew over Milan, Italy, the pilot radioed to the control tower at Linate Airport that there was a problem with the retractable landing gear. The tower began arranging an emergency landing. The plane crashed into the upper floors of the Pirelli Tower. The vibration of the impact caused shop windows to break and littered the surroundings with debris and glass in offices. The pilot and two others present inside the building died.

Between thirty and forty people were taken to the hospital with moderate injuries, while fire-fighters contained the fire that resulted from the crash. Immediately after the crash, the nearby Milan central railway station, metro station and the Linate airport were closed.^[2]

Investigation

Italian officials conducted an investigation after the crash. The cause of the crash was never exactly determined or confirmed, but the most plausible reason is an accident or a suicide. The pilot had been the victim of a scam that brought him close to bankruptcy, so the possibility of a public suicide is plausible.^[1]

Aftermath

The crash aroused fears of a terrorist attack since it occurred seven months after the September 11 attacks. Because of this, stock markets around the United States and Europe fell sharply and business trading in Milan was suspended. The fears ended when investigators concluded that the crash was not an act of terrorism.^[3]^[4]

References

^ ^a ^b "Investigators:Intentional or accidental crash?". Corriere Della Sera.it. 20 April 2002. Retrieved 12 November 2016.
^ "Three dead as plane hits Milan's tallest building". CNN. 19 April 2002. Retrieved 19 April 2014.
^ Janine Yagielski: New Yorkers' first reaction: 'Not again' Archived 14 April 2008 at the Wayback Machine, CNN, 19 April 2002. URL Accessed: 4 August 2006
^ BBC News: Markets rattled by Milan plane crash, 18 April 2002. URL Accessed: 4 August 2006

v t e Aviation accidents and incidents in Italy
Before 1900	Francesco Zambeccari (September 1812)
1900s-1940s	Jorge Chávez (September 1910) Verona Caproni Ca.48 crash (August 1919) Dixmude (December 1923) 1945 Avro York crash (February 1945) Superga air disaster (May 1949)
1950s	BOAC Flight 115 (October 1952) Mediterranean Sea mid-air collision (January 1953) BOAC Flight 781 (January 1954) South African Airways Flight 201 (April 1954) Sabena Flight 503 (February 1955) British European Airways Flight 142 (October 1958) TWA Flight 891 (June 1959)
1970s	RAF Hercules crash (November 1971) Alitalia Flight 112 (May 1972) Argo 16 (November 1973) Rome airport attacks and hijacking (December 1973) Alitalia Flight 4128 (December 1978) Aero Trasporti Italiani Flight 12 (September 1979)
1980s	Itavia Flight 870 (June 1980) Aero Trasporti Italiani Flight 460 (October 1987) Uganda Airlines Flight 775 (October 1988)
1990s	Italian Air Force MB-326 crash (December 1990) Banat Air Flight 166 (December 1995) Air Littoral Flight 701 (July 1997) Cavalese cable car crash (February 1998)
2000s	Linate Airport disaster (October 2001) Pirelli Tower crash (April 2002) Tuninter Flight 1153 (August 2005) Air Algérie Flight 2208 (August 2006)
2010s	ASL Airlines Hungary Flight 7332 (August 2016)