At 08:09:28 , the SAS MD-87 was given clearance by a different controller to take off from Runway 36R . Fifty-three seconds later , the SAS aircraft , traveling at about , collided with the Cessna . One of the four people in the Cessna was killed on impact ; the remaining three died in the subsequent fire . The MD-87 lost its right engine ; the pilot , Joakim Gustafsson , attempted to take off , reaching an altitude of approximately . The remaining engine lost some thrust due to debris ingestion , and the plane , having lost the starboard landing gear , came down . Gustafsson applied thrust reverser and brakes , and tried to guide the plane through its control surfaces . This was insufficient to halt the jet 's momentum , and it crashed into a luggage hangar located near the runway 's end , at a speed of approximately . In the impact , all the MD-87 's crew and passengers were killed . The crash and subsequent fire killed four Italian ground personnel in the hangar , and injured four more . The accident occurred less than a month after the September 11 attacks and the day after the U.S. invasion of Afghanistan began , but the Italian government was quick to rule out a terrorist attack as the cause . This was subsequently confirmed by the investigations that followed
September 11 attacks
September 11 attacks
Linate Airport disaster