1994 Guardia di Finanza A109 crash

The 1994 Guardia di Finanza A109 crash was an aviation accident that occurred on 2 March over the Tyrrhenian Sea facing the Sarrabus, off Muravera, in south-eastern Sardinia.

The Fiamme Gialle helicopter lost contact with air traffic control because of an in-flight explosion. The aircraft (with the exception of a few fragments) and the bodies of the two crew members have never been found.

The causes and the dynamics themselves have not been clarified; over the years the accident has therefore acquired the name of "Sardinian Ustica".

The flight

The crew boards the Agusta A-109A Mk.II Hirundo Volpe 132; Sedda takes the role of pilot while Deriu keeps in contact with the Cagliari Approach air traffic control (on the frequency 118.75 MHz). The two take off at 18:44 from the A.M. military airport of Cagliari-Elmas “Mario Mameli”.

The helicopter is also in radio contact with the 2nd operational unit of the Guardia di Finanza of Cagliari, to which it reports at 19:07 that it is at Capo Carbonara heading south towards some "targets reported by radar".

At 19:15 it flies over the patrol boat and establishes communication with it, asking to keep each other updated every 5 miles. Three minutes later, at 19:18, Elmas airport records a turn by the aircraft: it reverses course, heading north-west, in the direction of the Sette Fratelli massif. Immediately afterwards all trace of it is lost; the surveillance radars no longer record its position and the air traffic control tapes contain no further communications from the servicemen on board.