Person
Achille Zaghetti
Also known as Zaghetti, Captain Zaghetti, Capt Zaghetti
- Captain, Alitalia (MD-80 commander, 1991)
Achille Zaghetti, from Grosseto in Tuscany, was the Alitalia captain who on 21 April 1991, commanding an MD-80 from Milan to Heathrow, reported a light-brown, missile-like object passing close to his airliner over Kent; his co-pilot saw it too, and London control reported an unknown radar target behind the aircraft. His handwritten report, the CAA's inquiry and the MoD's papers are in the files opened at The National Archives in 2008.
He was named in the press at the time and spoke about the encounter again in 2008, comparing the object to a fighter's long-range fuel tank. No recorded interview with him has been found.
Sources: MoD file DEFE 24/1953 (his report; The Independent, 6 May 1991) · The Telegraph via ANI, 22 October 2008
Facts and claims
- claimed In his near-collision report of 22 April 1991 he wrote that during the descent at FL 222 he saw “for about 3-4 seconds a flying object, very similar to a missile, light brown coloured”, about 1,000 feet above the airliner, and that the London controller told him: “I see an unknown target 10 N.M. behind you”. — Achille Zaghetti Source: defe-24-1953.pdf
- claimed When the files were opened in 2008 he told Italian newspapers, as quoted by The Telegraph: “It was shaped like a cigar and passed very close, about 300 metres on the right, or 1,000ft” and “It was military beige in colour. My co-pilot and I estimated that it was about three metres long.” — Achille Zaghetti Source: oneindia.com (archived)
- claimed He added: “It could have caused a terrible accident. If you're flying at 700 kilometres an hour, hitting an object of 1kg is like hitting something which weighs 700kg.” — Achille Zaghetti Source: oneindia.com (archived)
Connected files
Incidents
- Alitalia MD-80 encounter with an unidentified “missile” near Lydd, Kent (witness) — Commander of Alitalia AZ284; reported a missile-like object passing about 1,000 feet above the airliner over Kent