Date:	Tuesday 8 October 1996
Time:	10:50
Type:	Antonov An-124-100
Owner/operator:	Ajax-Cargo
Registration:	RA-82069
MSN:	9773054259124
Year of manufacture:	1993
Engine model:	Lotarev D-18T
Fatalities:	Fatalities: 2 / Occupants: 23
Other fatalities:	2
Aircraft damage:	Destroyed, written off
Category:	Accident
Location:	San Francesco al Campo -   Italy
Phase:	Approach
Nature:	Ferry/positioning
Departure airport:	Chkalovsky Airport (CKL/UUMU)
Destination airport:	Torino-Caselle Airport (TRN/LIMF)
Confidence Rating:	Information verified through data from accident investigation authorities

Narrative:
An Antonov An-124 cargo plane crashed during a go-around at Torino-Caselle Airport, Italy, killing two crewmen and two persons on the ground.
The aircraft departed Moscow's Chkalovsky Airport in Russia at 08:30 for a repositioning flight to Turin to collect Ferrari cars to be delivered in Brunei.
At about 10:25 local time an An-124, property of Aeroflot and operated by Ajax was flying empty from Russia to Turin, Italy, to collect Ferrari cars to be delivered in Brunei. After having failed to land on runway 36 at Caselle Airport, while trying to go-around from an altitude of about 15 meters (50 ft) above the runway, the aircraft struck trees and houses in the small town of San Francesco al Campo, north of the runway end.
At that runway 36 time was undergoing resurfacing works near the threshold. The cat.III ILS was operating as Localizer only, because the glide slope was turned off during the works. The usable length of the runway was reduced to 2350 meters from 3300, due to work in progress. All these informations were included in a regular NOTAM and the crew was advised accordingly at first contact from the Turin Radar controller.
Reported weather at time of crash (10:20 local) was: wind variable, 3 knots, visibility 2000 m, RVR runway 36 more than 1500 meters, no change, light rain, scattered at 1500 feet, scattered at 3500 feet, broken at 7000 feet, temperature and dew point 13°C, QNH 1012 hPa.
After descending through the clouds, the airplane passed the threshold of runway 36 at an altitude higher than planned. Believing that the remaining runway length would not be long enough for a safe landing, the co-pilot suggested on going around, while the captain made the decision to land. When the wheels were 1 meter above the runway, the remaining runway length was 1350 meters.
The captain now decided to go around and selected takeoff power. However, due to design flaws in the engine control system, as well as abrupt shifting of the engine throttle to take-off mode, only one engine entered take-off mode. The airplane was unable to gain altitude, losing speed and increasing the angle of attack. At 10:50, about 1 km north of the end of runway 36, it hit trees and touched the roof of a two-story house in the town of San Francesco al Campo. The aircraft hit the ground, collided with a building and caught fire.

It seems that poor crew coordination and training (the captain had just 431 hours on the civil type), poor approach planning (no planning was made for a possible missed approach, despite the crew having been informed by the Tower eleven minutes before the crash that the preceding aircraft had got the runway in sight at just 200 feet), late decision to start the missed approach have all contributed to the crash.

Soviet Transports
ANSA Press Releases
Enrico Zaffiri
ICAO Adrep Summary 6/96 (#4)
Marco Riva
Scramble 210
Volare, #155

photo (c) Richard Wagner, via Werner Fischdick; Nürnberg Airport (NUE); May 1995

Date/time	Contributor	Updates