Alitalia flight 660, Douglas DC-8-43 was destroyed when it impacted a wooded hillside near Milan-Malpensa Airport, Italy. Twelve passengers suffered fatal injuries. AZ660 was a regular passenger service from Rome-Fiumicino Airport, to Montreal, Canada, with an intermediate stop at Milan-Malpensa Airport. As weather at Milan was deteriorating, the captain decided to depart Rome as soon as possible. The flight took off from Fiumicino Airport’s runway 16R at 14:15 hours local time, which was fifteen minutes ahead of schedule. The airplane climbed in VMC to the cruising altitude of FL220. The en route part of the flight was uneventful. While descending to the south of the airport, preparing for an approach to runway 35, the aircraft entered IMC with heavy turbulence due to the presence of a thunderstorm in the area. About 13:59 the flight was cleared from 9000 feet down to 4000 feet for a straight-in approach. Three minutes later the pilot advised that he would make a 360 degree turn over the beacon as the aircraft was at 6000 feet. On completion of the turn, at an altitude of 1500 feet, the flight continued on runway heading and descending but the aircraft had already passed the airport. At 14:06 the flight crew became unsure of their position and almost immediately the airplane struck a wooded hillside 11,5 km north of Malpensa Airport’s runway 35. PROBABLE CAUSE: “Insufficient checking of flight times during the final portion of the approach; Positioning for final approach by means of a non standard procedure; Delayed detection of the VOR radial or wrong selection of such radial; Broken view of terrain north of the airport similar to that south of the airport.”