The Superga air disaster (, "Tragedy of Superga") occurred on 4 May 1949, when a Fiat G.212 of Avio Linee Italiane (Italian Airlines), carrying the entire

Torino Turin ( , ; ; , then ) is a city and an important business and cultural centre in northern Italy. It is the capital city of Piedmont and of the Metropolitan City of Turin, and was the first Italian capital from 1861 to 1865. The city is main ...

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kick (football), kicking a football (ball), ball to score a goal (sports), goal. Unqualified, football (word), the word ''football'' generally means the form of football t ...

team (popularly known as the ''

Grande Torino The was the historic Italian football team of Torino Football Club in the 1940s, five-time champions of Italy, whose players were the backbone of the Italy national team and died on 4 May 1949 in the plane crash known as the Superga air di ...

''), crashed into the retaining wall at the back of the

Basilica of Superga The Basilica of Superga () is a hilltop Catholic basilica in Superga, in the vicinity of Turin, Italy. History The church was built from 1717 to 1731 for Victor Amadeus II of Savoy, designed by Filippo Juvarra, at the top of the hill of Super ...

, which stands on a hill on the outskirts of

Turin Turin ( , ; ; , then ) is a city and an important business and cultural centre in northern Italy. It is the capital city of Piedmont and of the Metropolitan City of Turin, and was the first Italian capital from 1861 to 1865. The city is main ...

. All thirty-one people on the flight were killed.

Background

The Avio Linee Italiane Fiat G.212CP was carrying the team home from

Lisbon Lisbon ( ; ) is the capital and largest city of Portugal, with an estimated population of 567,131, as of 2023, within its administrative limits and 3,028,000 within the Lisbon Metropolitan Area, metropolis, as of 2025. Lisbon is mainlan ...

, where they had played a friendly match with

S.L. Benfica (), commonly known as Benfica, is a professional football club based in Lisbon, Portugal, that competes in the Primeira Liga, the top flight of Portuguese football. Founded on 28 February 1904, as ''Sport Lisboa'', Benfica is one of the " ...

in honour of the Portuguese

captain Captain is a title, an appellative for the commanding officer of a military unit; the supreme leader or highest rank officer of a navy ship, merchant ship, aeroplane, spacecraft, or other vessel; or the commander of a port, fire or police depa ...

, Francisco Ferreira. In the incident, the whole active Torino team (almost all of whom were also members of the

Italy national football team The Italy national football team () has represented Italy in men's international Association football, football since its first match in 1910. The national team is controlled by the Italian Football Federation (FIGC), the governing body for fo ...

) lost their lives. Club officials including the manager,

Ernő Egri Erbstein Ernő Egri Erbstein (), also known as Ernest and Ernesto Erbstein (13 May 18984 May 1949), was a Hungarian football player and manager. He carried out his footballing activities in several countries and was most noted for his association with I ...

, a Hungarian refugee, and the head coach, Englishman Leslie Lievesley, also perished in the accident, as well as the crew of the aircraft and three well-known Italian sports journalists: Renato Casalbore (founder of ''

Tuttosport ''Tuttosport'' is a daily sports newspaper based in the city of Turin, Italy. History and profile ''Tuttosport'' was first published on 30 July 1945. Renato Casalbore (who later died in the 1949 Superga air disaster alongside the Grande Torino ...

''); Renato Tosatti (the ''

Gazzetta del Popolo ''Gazzetta del Popolo'' was an Italian daily newspaper founded in Turin, in northern Italy, on 16 June 1848. It ceased publication on 31 December 1983 after 135 years of operation. Italian novelist Alberto Moravia Alberto Pincherle (; 28 Nove ...

'', father of Giorgio Tosatti), and Luigi Cavallero (''

La Stampa (English: "The Press") is an Italian daily newspaper published in Turin with an average circulation of 87,143 copies in May 2023. Distributed in Italy and other European nations, it is one of the oldest newspapers in Italy. Until the late 1970 ...

''). The task of identifying the bodies was entrusted to the former manager of the Italy national team,

Vittorio Pozzo Vittorio Pozzo (; 2 March 1886 – 21 December 1968) was an Italian association football, football player, manager (association football), manager and journalist. The creator of the ''Formation (association football)#Metodo (2–3–2–3), Me ...

, who had called up most of Torino's players to the ''Azzurri''. The full-back

Sauro Tomà Sauro Tomà (4 December 1925 – 10 April 2018) was an Italian footballer who played as a full-back. Tomà began his career with Rapallo Ruentes. After playing for Vogherese and Spezia, he joined Torino in 1947, where he won two Serie A title ...

did not take part in the trip due to an injured

meniscus Meniscus may refer to: *Meniscus (anatomy), crescent-shaped fibrocartilaginous structure that partly divides a joint cavity *Meniscus (liquid) In physics (particularly liquid statics), the meniscus (: menisci, ) is the curve in the upper sur ...

, nor did the reserve

goalkeeper In many team sports that involve scoring goal (sport), goals, the goalkeeper (sometimes termed goaltender, netminder, GK, goalie, or keeper) is a designated player charged with directly preventing the opposing team from scoring by blocking or i ...

Renato Gandolfi Renato Gandolfi (17 November 1927 – 30 April 2011) was an Italian professional footballer who played as a goalkeeper.Dino Ballarin Dino Ballarin (23 September 1925 – 4 May 1949) was an Italian footballer who played as a goalkeeper. Club career Ballarin arrived at Torino in 1947, the team in which his brother, Aldo Ballarin, played as a defender. Dino arrived from the ama ...

, took his place). Radio commentator

Nicolò Carosio Nicolò Carosio (15 March 1907 – 27 September 1984) was an Italian sport journalist and commentator. Born in Palermo, the son of a customs inspector and a Maltese pianist, Carosio graduated in law, then he decided to participate in a contest ...

, Luigi Giuliano (captain of the Torino youth team), and former manager of the Italy national team Vittorio Pozzo, were excluded for various reasons. Torino's president,

Ferruccio Novo Ferruccio Novo (22 March 1897 – 8 April 1974) was an Italian association football player, coach, and sports manager, who played as a defender. He was the president of the ''Grande Torino''. Playing career Novo spent his entire career playing ...

, also did not go on the trip because he was ill with

influenza Influenza, commonly known as the flu, is an infectious disease caused by influenza viruses. Symptoms range from mild to severe and often include fever, runny nose, sore throat, muscle pain, headache, coughing, and fatigue. These sympto ...

Crash

The three-engined Fiat G.212, with

aircraft registration An aircraft registration is a code unique to a single aircraft, required by international convention to be marked on the exterior of every civil aircraft. The registration indicates the aircraft's country of registration, and functions much li ...

I-ELCE, of Avio Linee Italiane, took off from Lisbon at 09:40 a.m. on Wednesday, 4 May 1949. The commander of the aircraft was Lieutenant Colonel Meroni. The flight landed at the airport in

Barcelona Barcelona ( ; ; ) is a city on the northeastern coast of Spain. It is the capital and largest city of the autonomous community of Catalonia, as well as the second-most populous municipality of Spain. With a population of 1.6 million within c ...

at 13:00. While the aircraft was refuelled during the stopover, Torino met for lunch with

Milan Milan ( , , ; ) is a city in northern Italy, regional capital of Lombardy, the largest city in Italy by urban area and the List of cities in Italy, second-most-populous city proper in Italy after Rome. The city proper has a population of nea ...

, who were on their way to

Madrid Madrid ( ; ) is the capital and List of largest cities in Spain, most populous municipality of Spain. It has almost 3.5 million inhabitants and a Madrid metropolitan area, metropolitan area population of approximately 7 million. It i ...

. At 14:50, I-ELCE set off for the Turin-Aeritalia Airport. The flight's route was to take it over

Cap de Creus The Cap de Creus (Cabo de Creus in Spanish) is a peninsula and a headland located at the far northeast of Catalonia, some south from the French border. The cape lies in the municipal area of Cadaqués, and the nearest large town is Figuere ...

Toulon Toulon (, , ; , , ) is a city in the Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur region of southeastern France. Located on the French Riviera and the historical Provence, it is the prefecture of the Var (department), Var department. The Commune of Toulon h ...

Nice Nice ( ; ) is a city in and the prefecture of the Alpes-Maritimes department in France. The Nice agglomeration extends far beyond the administrative city limits, with a population of nearly one million Albenga Albenga (; ) is a city and ''comune'' situated on the Gulf of Genoa on the Italian Riviera in the Province of Savona in Liguria, northern Italy. Albenga has the nickname of ''city of a hundred spires''. The economy is mostly based on tourism, loc ...

, and

Savona Savona (; ) is a seaport and (municipality) in the west part of the northern Italian region of Liguria, and the capital of the Province of Savona. Facing the Ligurian Sea, Savona is the main center of the Riviera di Ponente (the western se ...

. Above Savona, the plane turned north, in the direction of the capital of

Piedmont Piedmont ( ; ; ) is one of the 20 regions of Italy, located in the northwest Italy, Northwest of the country. It borders the Liguria region to the south, the Lombardy and Emilia-Romagna regions to the east, and the Aosta Valley region to the ...

, where it was expected to arrive in 30 minutes. The weather in Turin was poor; at 16:55, the airport of Turin Aeritalia communicated the weather situation to the pilot: clouds almost touching the ground, showers, strong southwest wind gusts, and very poor horizontal visibility (). At this point, the tower asked for the pilot's position. After a few minutes of silence (at 16:59) came the reply: "Quota . QDM on Pino, then we will cut at Superga". At

Pino Torinese Pino Torinese is a ''comune'' (municipality) in the Metropolitan City of Turin in the Italy, Italian region Piedmont, located about southeast of Turin. Pino Torinese borders the following municipalities: Turin, Baldissero Torinese, Chieri, Pecett ...

, which is located between

Chieri Chieri (; ) is a town and ''comune'' in the Metropolitan City of Turin, Piedmont (Italy), located about southeast of Turin, by rail and by road. It borders the following municipalities: Baldissero Torinese, Pavarolo, Montaldo Torinese, Pino ...

and Baldissero Torinese, southeast of Turin, there was a VHF direction finder, to provide a QDM (magnetic course to be taken on a head-on approach as a radio aid) on request. On approach, the plane lined up with the runway at Aeritalia about away to the west, at above sea level, with Pino at 290° off its nose. Just north of Pino Torinese was the

, situated on a hill at above sea level. One theory for the deviation is that due to the strong left crosswinds, the plane could have suffered a drift to starboard, which shifted from the axis of descent and lined up with the hill of Superga. Recent investigations also suggested the possibility that the altimeter had malfunctioned and locked at , which led the pilots to believe that they were at a higher altitude. At 17:03, the plane made a turn to the left, returned to level flight, and had aligned to prepare for landing when it crashed into the back of the embankment of the Basilica of Superga. The pilot, who likely believed that the Superga hill was off to his right, would have seen it suddenly emerge directly in front of him (speed , visibility ) and been unable to react. The wreckage did not give any indication of an attempt to go around. The only part of the aircraft which remained partially intact was the

empennage The empennage ( or ), also known as the tail or tail assembly, is a structure at the rear of an aircraft that provides stability during flight, in a way similar to the feathers on an arrow.Crane, Dale: ''Dictionary of Aeronautical Terms, third ed ...

. At 17:05, Aeritalia Torre called I-ELCE, but received no response. All of the 31 people on board were killed.

Victims

Players

* Valerio Bacigalupo * Aldo Ballarin *

Dino Ballarin Dino Ballarin (23 September 1925 – 4 May 1949) was an Italian footballer who played as a goalkeeper. Club career Ballarin arrived at Torino in 1947, the team in which his brother, Aldo Ballarin, played as a defender. Dino arrived from the ama ...

* Émile Bongiorni * Eusebio Castigliano * Rubens Fadini *

Guglielmo Gabetto Guglielmo Gabetto (; 24 February 1916 – 4 May 1949) was an Italian footballer who played as a forward. Aside from goalkeeper Alfredo Bodoira, he is the only player to win the Italian championship with both Torino and cross-city rivals Juven ...

* Ruggero Grava *

Giuseppe Grezar Giuseppe "Pino" Grezar (; 25 November 1918 – 4 May 1949) was an Italian football player, who played as a midfielder for Torino F.C. and died in the Superga air disaster together with the whole Grande Torino team. Career Grezar was born in Tri ...

Ezio Loik Ezio Loik (; 26 September 1919 – 4 May 1949) was an Italian association football, footballer who played as a midfielder. Born in Rijeka, Fiume, Loik began his career with U.S. Fiumana, Fiumana. He made his Serie A debut with A.C. Milan in 193 ...

* Virgilio Maroso * Danilo Martelli * Valentino Mazzola *

Romeo Menti Romeo Menti (; 5 September 1919 – 4 May 1949) was an Italian people, Italian Association football, footballer who played as a Forward (association football), forward. He scored 145 goals in a career that spanned fifteen years. Career Born in V ...

* Piero Operto * Franco Ossola * Mario Rigamonti * Július Schubert

Coaching staff

* Ottavio Corina, massage therapist *

, manager * Leslie Lievesley, coach

Club officials

* Arnaldo Agnisetta, general manager * Andrea Bonaiuti, travel organizer * Ippolito Civalleri, travel escort

Journalists

* Renato Casalbore * Luigi Cavallero * Renato Tosatti

Flight crew

* Cesare Biancardi, co-pilot * Celestino D'Inca, engineer * Pierluigi Meroni, pilot * Antonio Pangrazi, radio operator

Aftermath

At the request of rival teams, Torino were proclaimed winners of the 1948–49 Serie A season on 6 May 1949, and the opponents, as well as Torino, fielded their youth teams in the four remaining games. On the day of the funeral, half a million people took to the streets of Turin to give a final farewell to the players. The following season, the other top Italian teams were asked to donate a player to Torino. The shock of the crash was such that the following year, the Italy national team chose to travel to the

1950 FIFA World Cup The 1950 FIFA World Cup was the 4th edition of the FIFA World Cup, the quadrennial international Association football, football championship for senior men's national teams. It was held in Brazil from 24 June to 16 July 1950. It was the first Wo ...

in Brazil by ship. The crash is commemorated annually. Remains of the aircraft, including a propeller, a tyre, scattered pieces of the fuselage, and the personal bags of Mazzola, Maroso, and Erbstein, are preserved in a museum in

Grugliasco Grugliasco (; ) is a ''comune'' (municipality) in the Metropolitan City of Turin in the Italian region of Piedmont, about west of Turin. Grugliasco borders the municipalities of Turin, Collegno, and Rivoli. In 1945, members of the retreating ...

near Turin. The ''Museo del Grande Torino e della Leggenda Granata'', located in the prestigious Villa Claretta Assandri of

, was opened on 4 May 2008, the anniversary of the tragedy. Eight of the 18 players (as well as two coaches and the journalist Renato Casalbore) are buried at the ''Cimitero Monumentale'' of Turin.

Bibliography

* Roberto Thoeni, ''L'ultimo urlo per il grande Torino'', Abaco Editori *

Dino Buzzati Dino Buzzati-Traverso (; 14 October 1906 – 28 January 1972) was an Italian novelist, short story writer, painter and poet, as well as a journalist for ''Corriere della Sera''. His worldwide fame is mostly due to his novel '' The Tartar St ...

, in ''La nera di Dino Buzzati'',

Oscar Mondadori Arnoldo Mondadori Editore () is the biggest publishing company in Italy. History The company was founded in 1907 in Ostiglia by 18-year-old Arnoldo Mondadori who began his publishing career with the publication of the magazine ''Luce!''. In 19 ...

* Vincenzo Baggioli (a cura), ''Il Torino. Oltre la vita!'', Milano, I.P.L.

References

External links

Memorial museum page
(in Italian) {{Aviation accidents and incidents in Italy Aviation accidents and incidents in 1949 1949 in Italy Airliner accidents and incidents caused by weather Aviation accidents and incidents in Italy Aviation accidents and incidents involving controlled flight into terrain Aviation accidents and incidents involving professional sports teams Torino FC Sport in Turin 1940s in Turin 1948–49 in Italian football May 1949 in Europe Superga