The Airbus A330-200 plane was accelerating to takeoff for Leonardo da Vinci International Airport, Italy, when the crew noticed an engine issue and rejected takeoff.

The plane safely returned to the apron. Everyone aboard remained safe.

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The Airbus A320-200 plane took off for Leonardo da Vinci–Fiumicino Airport, Italy, but had to turn back due to multiple bird strikes.

The plane landed safely. All passengers and crew members remained unharmed.

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The Boeing 777-200 plane heading from Leonardo da Vinci–Fiumicino Airport, Italy, to Narita International Airport, Japan, was diverted after the crew needed to shut down one of the engines.

The plane landed safely. All passengers and crew members remained unharmed.

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The Airbus A320-200 plane heading from Casablanca, Morocco, to Leonardo da Vinci–Fiumicino Airport, Italy, was diverted after the crew noticed a fuel leak.

The plane landed safely. All seventy-two passengers and six crew members remained unharmed.

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The Airbus A330-200 flying to Rome Fiumicino, Italy, had to return due to a bird strike.

The plane landed safely.

No injuries were reported.

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The Airbus A330-200 plane heading from Miami, Florida, to Rome Fiumicino Airport, Italy, was diverted due to a mechanical issue.

The plane landed uneventfully. All passengers and crew members remained safe.

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The Airbus A320-200 plane took off for Linate Airport, Italy, but had to turn back after the crew noticed an issue with one of the engines and decided to shut it down.

The plane landed uneventfully. All one hundred and sixty-seven passengers and six crew members remained safe.

The post Alitalia Flight Makes Emergency Landing in Italy first appeared on George Hatcher's Air Flight Disaster.

The Airbus A320-200 plane was accelerating to takeoff for Rome Fiumicino Airport, Italy, when the crew rejected takeoff due to a bird strike.

The plane safely returned to the apron.

All passengers and crew members remained safe.

The post Alitalia Flight Rejects Takeoff due to Bird Strike first appeared on George Hatcher's Air Flight Disaster.

The Boeing 777-200 plane took off for John F. Kennedy International Airport, New York, but had to return shortly afterwards after the crew reported a hydraulic leak.

The plane landed back uneventfully. All passengers and crew members remained safe.

The post Alitalia Flight Makes Emergency Landing at Leonardo da Vinci–Fiumicino Airport first appeared on George Hatcher's Air Flight Disaster.

The plane had departed for Palermo, Italy, when the crew reported a bird strike.

After confirming that all instruments were showing normal values, the crew decided to continue the flight toward Palermo.

The plane landed safely. All passengers and crew members remained unharmed.

The post Bird-Hit Alitalia Airlines Flight Lands Safely in Palermo, Italy first appeared on George Hatcher's Air Flight Disaster.

The Airbus A320-200 plane flying from Madrid, Spain, was on approach to Rome Fiumicino Airport when the crew received an unsafe gear indication and declared an emergency.

The plane landed uneventfully. All 151 passengers and 6 crew members remained safe.

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The Boeing 777-200, flying from Tokyo, Japan, to Fiumicino, Italy, had to divert after the crew noticed an issue with one of its engines.

The plane landed safely.

No one was injured.

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The Airbus A320-200, flying from Linate Airport, Milan, Italy, sustained damage to one of its flaps due to bird strike.

The plane landed safely.

No one was injured.

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According to the airline, “Alitalia flight AZ2016 from Rome to Milan Linate, scheduled on 8.00 am this morning, went through an extraordinary and violent hailstorm soon after taking off from Fiumicino airport… Therefore, the pilots decided to head to Naples airport.”

The plane landed safely and all 110 passengers remained uninjured.

The aircraft sustained serious damage due to the storm.

The airline accommodated the passengers in other flights.

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The incident happened after the right engine of the ATR 72 twin turboprop aircraft was struck by lightning while passing through a severe storm.

The plane landed uneventfully and all 51 passengers and crew members remained unharmed.

The aircraft was taken for examination.

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However, there’s a strange wrinkle to the incident.

When it left Pisa, it looked like this:

See the livery? Painted green and red.

After the plane veered off the runway on landing in Rome, after passengers got out (they must have, since there’s no one in it now), the same plane was painted white, livery gone, and no marking on it remaining except for the Romanian flag behind the registration number.

Alitalia had leased the plane from Carpatair. Passengers who flew on that plane thought it was an Alitalia plane. They had purchased Alitalia tickets. There are online interviews of passengers complaining because they believed they had been on an Alitalia plane.

It is not uncommon for airlines to lease planes. What is the responsibility of the ticket agent or airline to notify passengers of the codesharing details?

Alitalia denies this is a cover-up. They say it (meaning painting over their colors very fast before anyone walking about can see) is “standard corporate practice and a way of avoiding bad publicity.”

If “avoiding bad publicity” is not a cover up, what is? Shouldn’t the Italian public flying by that plane beached off the runway know it was flying with Alitalia colors even if it was leased from Carpatair? Is painting over the livery a kind of Romania bashing, especially if a Romanian crew landed a wet-leased plane in bad-wind conditions so that there was no catastrophic loss of life? Good on the crew, whoever they were for no loss of life. Wonder what the investigation will say.

Even if they do not own the plane, Alitalia is accountable. Did they lease it sight unseen? They’d be double-ly accountable for leasing something blind, I would think. I’m thinking they knew what they were flying. Did they not fly it under their colors and sell tickets to passengers who believed they were flying Alitalia with an Alitalia crew? Airlines do this all the time. But it does not become a cover up until the paint job–until the Italian media points the finger–Here’s the thing. It’s public record that it’s a leased plane.

The attention the Italian media is giving this is justified. The public should know they are being handled by the PR department. Alitalia’s strategy: 1)dumping Carpatair codeshares and 2)painting the plane looks more like a publicity cover-up strategy than a move toward safety.

If that’s a wet-leased crew, they landed the plane and no one died.

If repainting is standard policy, what other times has Alitalia repainted on the sly, or otherwise hidden their connection to incidents? How many (this-is-not-a-)cover-ups have there been of incidents at less scrutinized airports than Fiumicino? I am sure the public would love to know.

The investigators are French (ATR) and Romanian (Carpatair). It will be interesting to hear what the Italian people think about it.

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What: Alitalia Airbus A321-200 en route from Palermo to Rome Fiumicino Italy
Where: Palermo
When: Apr 3rd 2011
Who: 150 passengers
Why: While en route, the crew encountered an undesignated technical problem.

The crew returned to Palermo where they made a safe landing. The Airbus was flown to Milan for examination and repair.

Passengers were provided alternative flights.

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What: Alitalia Airbus A320-200 en route from Bucharest Romania to Rome
Where: Bucharest
When: Jul 31st 2010
Who: 92 passengers
Why: The Alitalia Airbus rejected takeoff after one engine ingested a hawk. The plane returned to the gate and after passengers disembarked, they were provided accommodations until the replacement flight takes off tomorrow.

The post Alitalia Bird Strike on Rumanian Runway first appeared on George Hatcher's Air Flight Disaster.

What: Alitalia Boeing 767-300 en route from Rome Fiumicino to New York
Where: Shannon Ireland
When: Jul 22nd 2010
Who: 198 passengers
Why: While en route, the crew smelled smoke in the cockpit. The pilots diverted the plane to Shannon, where they made a safe landing.

Passengers were provided accommodations, and the plane underwent inspection.

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What: Alitalia Boeing 767-300 en route from Rome to New York
Where: New York
When: Jul 3rd 2010
Why: While on an otherwise uneventful flight, the plane’s (1′ X 2′) access door disengaged and fell around 4 pm at the Nassau County Courthouse in Mineola,NY.

Individuals at Nassau County Courthouse retrieved the access door after witnessing it strike the ground. Alitalia discovered the door missing after landing in NY.

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The flight made a safe landing.

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What: Alitalia Boeing 767-300 en route from New York JFK to Rome
Where: New York
When: Jan 15th 2010
Who: 180 passengers
Why: On take off, the Boeing apparently had a tail strike, but not one hard enough to damage the tail skid. The crew performed checks, but then decided to dump fuel and land. After circling, the flight landed safely approx. an hour and a half after initial takeoff. After two hours, the same aircraft took off again for Rome.

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What: Alitalia McDonnell Douglas MD-82 en route from Rome to Palermo Italy
Where: Midway between Rome and Palermo
When: Oct 24th 2009
Who: n/a
Why: While en route, the weather radar failed. The crew decided to return to Rome where they made a safe landing. Passengers were provided another plane 3 hours later.

The post Alitalia: Failed OnBoard Weather Radar Midflight first appeared on George Hatcher's Air Flight Disaster.