Have passed by now 76 years from that tragic May 4, 1949when at hours 17:03 a trimotor plane Fiat G.212CP with on board the whole football team of the great Turin He crashed on Basilica of Supergain Piedmont, a 675 meters altitude. Unfortunately in this tragic accident they died well 31 peopleincluding all members of the team. But what were the causes of this disaster? It was probably a mix between bad weather conditions, low visibility and malfunction of the tools.
The characteristics of the Fiat G.212CP
First we give a quick look at the vehicle involved in the disaster: it is a Fiat G.212CPa Trimatore monoplane entered service in the 1948 and mainly used for theNavigation training – so much so that it was soon renamed “flying hall“. Overall he had a length of 23.05 meters for a height of 6.50 m and a wing opening of 29.34 m.
Unfortunately, this aircraft throughout history was affected by two serious accidents: the first, as we will see shortly, was that of Superga In the 1949 while the second, in 1948, It occurred in Belgium and on that occasion they lost their lives 8 people.
The last G.212 was radiated in 1959 And today it is visible only at the Historical Museum of Air Force of Vigna di Valle (RM).
The crash against the Basilica of Superga: how the plane crash happened
To 9:52 of May 4, 1949 The single -side G.212 started from Lisbon to return to Turin: The team had gone to Portugal to play a friendly with the Benfic. Once reached Piedmont, the pilot immediately realized that the weather conditions were not favorable and that the Visibility was very low: in some areas (like the near the Superga hill) this was even equal to 40 meters.
The plane then reported his presence in Savona when the altimeter marked 2000 meters above sea levelafter which the pilot began the descent to overcome the clouds and regain visibility. Unfortunately, during this descent maneuver something went wrong and the vehicle, instead of aligning with the landing track, hit the Superga hill with his own 675 meters above sea levelcrashing on basilica. In this tragic accident they lost their lives 31 peopleincluding all the players of the team, 3 journalists And 5 technicians.
The possible causes of the tragedy: the hypotheses on the reasons for the disaster
We currently do not know with certainty what the crash caused but, probably, it was the union of several factors: primarily the Weather conditions were badwith strong rains, wind, fog and reduced visibility. The wind, in particular, could have diverted the descent trajectory of the plane bringing it on a collision course with the Basilica of Superga. To this we must add that the on -board tools certainly they weren’t up to par of today’s ones and which, consequently, made the most complicated navigation than it would be today. Over time it was also supposed that there was a altimeter failure: This would report a share of 2000 meters when, in reality, it would have been much lower.
In some ways this story is very reminiscent of that of the plane that crashed on the Andes, inspiring films such as Alive And The company of the snow. To find out more, here is an ad hoc video of deepening:
