Minerva Airlines Flight 1553

Minerva Airlines Flight 1553, was a regularly scheduled commercial passenger flight from Cagliari to Genoa operated by Minerva Airlines under the Alitalia Express brand via a codeshare agreement with Alitalia. On 25 February 1999, the Dornier 328 serving the flight lost control and overran the runway while landing at Genoa Cristoforo Colombo Airport. Of the 31 occupants on board, three died, including the flight attendant; another passenger later died in hospital. The aircraft was damaged beyond repair.

Flight history

Flight 1553 departed Cagliari for an 85-minute flight to Genoa on 25 February 1999, operated by Minerva Airlines on behalf of Alitalia, with a crew of four on board. The aircraft was under the command of 35-year-old Captain Alessandro Del Bono, an experienced pilot with 6,000 flight hours, 2,000 of which were on the Dornier 328. Also in the cockpit were First Officer Walter Beneduce and a student pilot. In the cabin, there was one flight attendant.

Accident

The aircraft approached and touched down on runway 29 at Genoa Airport with a 15- to 18-knot tailwind at approximately 11:30 am UTC (12:30 pm local time). Eyewitnesses reported seeing the aircraft touch down very far down the runway, bouncing several times, then veering right, crashing into the retaining wall and collapsing the front landing gear before plunging into the nearby sea. Airport crash response crews were quickly contacted and arrived on site after just 70 seconds.

There were three immediate deaths—two passengers and the flight attendant—along with eleven injured. Most passengers were taken to the hospital with hypothermia, with one passenger later dying in the hospital, bringing the fatality count to four. It is believed that the number of deaths would have been far greater had a 15-year-old member of a swim team not rushed to open the emergency exit door.