Monte Giner air crash

The investigation

After the accident the Minister of Defence, Taviani, set up a commission of inquiry to ascertain the causes of the accident, chaired by air division general Enrico Cigerza.

In the meantime controversy flared up over the causes of the disaster. Some attributed the accident to the situation at LAI, described as "prey to internal disputes, which had led to organisational paralysis", and to the fact that "the pilots' specialisation courses lasted very few months, for reasons of economy". It was also said that "the overhauls of the aircraft were not carried out regularly and those of the engines lasted only two hours, again for reasons of economy" The accusations against the airline gained new vigour when a few days later, on 2 January 1957, another of its aircraft ran off the runway while landing at Reggio Calabria airport, in this case without casualties.

Another cause of controversy concerned the use of the DC-3, also known as the "Dakota", an aircraft considered old and outdated because it dated back to the Second World War, in which it had been the main troop transport aircraft of the USA. The one that crashed had begun flying in 1943. A sharp drop in air bookings was also recorded, attributed to the unreliability of Italian civil aviation.

The affair gave rise to numerous parliamentary questions, during which many, including the future President of the Republic Giuseppe Saragat, took the opportunity to put forward again the idea of a merger between LAI and the other Italian flag carrier, Alitalia, not without raising some reservations among the latter's executives, partly because foreign capital was present in both companies: the British BOAC had a 30% stake in Alitalia, while in LAI the American TWA was present with 30% and Squibb with another 9%.

The ministerial commission of inquiry concluded its work in less than a month and its findings were presented to the Chamber on 23 January 1957 by the Minister of Defence Taviani. The causes of the disaster were attributed essentially to a serious error by the pilot, Giorgio Gasperoni, who did not follow the airways that were planned for the flight, with the possible aggravating factor of a failure of the on-board instruments. At that time the black box did not yet exist on aircraft. No responsibility was found on the part of the ground services.. However, it was never really clarified how such a significant "off course" could have occurred, given that captain Gasperoni was a very experienced pilot, already a much-decorated fighter pilot during the Second World War. The aircraft was supposed to follow a route that flew over the island of Elba and Genoa and instead ended up in the mountains of Trentino, after sending out a distress signal for ice on the wings.

The judicial inquiry also failed to reach any clear result. It dragged on for a long time, beset by civil party claims and by expert reports and counter-reports, and ended only in 1961, when the investigating section of the Court of Appeal of Trento concluded the investigation, attributing the air disaster to "unfortunate and fatal circumstances". The matter was therefore closed.