Alitalia Flight 618 was an accident involving a

Douglas DC-7C The Douglas DC-7 is an American transport aircraft built by the Douglas Aircraft Company from 1953 to 1958. A derivative of the DC-6, it was the last major piston engine-powered transport made by Douglas, being developed shortly after the earl ...

of the Italian airline

Alitalia Alitalia - Società Aerea Italiana S.p.A., operating as Alitalia (), was an Italian airline which was once the flag carrier and largest airline of Italy. The company had its head office in Fiumicino, Metropolitan City of Rome Capital. The ai ...

in Shannon, Ireland, on 26 February 1960. Of the 52 people on board, only 18 survived with serious injuries.

Accident

On the morning of 26 February 1960, Flight 618 arrived at its first stopover at

Shannon Airport Shannon Airport ( ga, Aerfort na Sionainne) is an international airport located in County Clare in the Republic of Ireland. It is adjacent to the Shannon Estuary and lies halfway between Ennis and Limerick. The airport is the third busiest ai ...

for refueling to continue its journey across the

Atlantic The Atlantic Ocean is the second-largest of the world's five oceans, with an area of about . It covers approximately 20% of Earth's surface and about 29% of its water surface area. It is known to separate the " Old World" of Africa, Europe an ...

, while under the supervision of a

check pilot A check pilot (or check airman) is an aircraft pilot who performs an oversight, safety, and qualification role for commercial pilots undergoing evaluation. The role of the check pilot is to ensure that the flight crew member has met competency sta ...

. The flight had been permitted to take off from

runway According to the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO), a runway is a "defined rectangular area on a land aerodrome prepared for the landing and takeoff of aircraft". Runways may be a man-made surface (often asphalt, concre ...

05 with a clear but still dark and partially overcast sky just 45 minutes after its initial arrival. Takeoff proceeded without issue and the crew retracted the gear before making a left turn when the aircraft had climbed to a height of with the landing lights still on. While turning, the aircraft's power was reduced slightly but the flaps were never fully retracted. Instead of climbing, the airliner only accelerated and lost

altitude Altitude or height (also sometimes known as depth) is a distance measurement, usually in the vertical or "up" direction, between a reference datum and a point or object. The exact definition and reference datum varies according to the context ...

very quickly. The pilots were unable to prevent the left wing tip from striking a stone wall near the

Clonloghan Clonloghan ( ga, Cluain Lócháin) is a civil parish of County Clare, Ireland, located by road northwest of Limerick, just north of Shannon. Geography The civil parish of Clonloghan lies in the barony of Bunratty Lower. It is in the southern ...

church followed by the left engines and the rest of the wing which also struck several

gravestones A headstone, tombstone, or gravestone is a stele or marker, usually stone, that is placed over a grave. It is traditional for burials in the Christian, Jewish, and Muslim religions, among others. In most cases, it has the deceased's name, da ...

of the surrounding

cemetery A cemetery, burial ground, gravesite or graveyard is a place where the remains of dead people are buried or otherwise interred. The word ''cemetery'' (from Greek , "sleeping place") implies that the land is specifically designated as a buri ...

. At this point, the aircraft's fate was sealed and after the propellers of the right engine also scraped past the wall, the out-of-control aircraft slammed into the ground in an open field beyond the cemetery and burst into flames. The post-crash fire quickly engulfed the aircraft and badly burned most of the survivors, as locals and rescue workers arrived at the scene. The fire gutted the wreckage, leaving the tail section as the only recognizable part left of the aircraft. The crash also took its toll on the passengers and crew on board, with only a single crew member surviving the crash alongside 17 passengers, who were all seriously injured.

Aircraft

The Douglas DC-7C involved, ''I-DUVO'' (msn 45231) was built in 1958 and was used by Alitalia from 1958 until its destruction in 1960.

Aftermath

The aircraft was destroyed by the impact and post-crash fire with the wreckage being documented on film and by

photography Photography is the art, application, and practice of creating durable images by recording light, either electronically by means of an image sensor, or chemically by means of a light-sensitive material such as photographic film. It is employe ...

. An investigation of the accident revealed the aircraft's speed at impact as between . Investigators failed to find any evidence pointing to the cause of the crash.

References

{{Aviation accidents and incidents in 1960 Alitalia accidents and incidents Airliner accidents and incidents with an unknown cause February 1960 events in Europe 1960 in Ireland Aviation accidents and incidents in 1960 Accidents and incidents involving the Douglas DC-7 Airliner accidents and incidents involving controlled flight into terrain Aviation accidents and incidents in Ireland