The Smart Marty Sky Dispatch
Today in History: Uganda Airlines Flight 775 Crashes in Rome
Thirty-three people died when a Uganda Airlines Boeing 707 crashed in dense fog while attempting to land at Rome’s Fiumicino Airport on October 17, 1988, with 19 people surviving the disaster.
Uganda Airlines Flight 775 crashed while attempting to land at Rome’s Leonardo da Vinci Fiumicino Airport in the early hours of October 17, 1988, killing 33 people, including all seven crew members, in one of the deadliest aviation disasters involving Uganda’s national carrier.
The Boeing 707-338C, registration 5X-UBC, was operating an international passenger service from London Gatwick to Entebbe International, with a scheduled stopover in Rome. There were 52 people aboard, consisting of 45 passengers and seven crew members, and 19 people survived the crash.
Dense fog surrounded the Rome approach, and the aircraft abandoned two landing attempts due to poor visibility before preparing for a third approach to Runway 34L. At about 00:30 local time, the aircraft descended below the minimum safe altitude without the crew establishing visual contact with the runway.
The aircraft struck trees and buildings roughly 800 metres short of the runway, then broke apart across a nearby road and parking area, subsequently bursting into flames. Investigators cited deficiencies in crew preparation and coordination during the non-precision instrument approach as the primary cause, with fatigue, focus on ground lights, and issues with the minimum-altitude warning system noted as contributing factors.
Uganda Airlines, the original state-owned carrier established in the late 1970s, ceased operations in 2001. The country later revived its national carrier as a separate entity, with the current Uganda Airlines beginning operations in 2019.