An EI Al Boeing 707 with 66 passengers aboard interrupted a flight to Zurich today and returned to Lod Airport when one of its four engines failed. The pilot radioed the Lod control tower and emergency crews stood by as the aircraft made a safe landing on three engines. The passengers were transferred to other carriers.
The incident was the third within a week involving mechanical malfunctions on El Al-planes. A week ago a Boeing 707-from-Rome made a belly landing at Lod after its landing gear failed to engage. On Monday night another Boeing 707 from Johannesburg circled Lod Airport for 25 minutes. because a warning light indicated that the landing gear was not working. The plane made a normal landing, however, and it was learned that the warning light, not the landing gear, was out of order. No injuries or damage was caused by any of the incidents.
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The Archive of the Jewish Telegraphic Agency includes articles published from 1923 to 2008. Archive stories reflect the journalistic standards and practices of the time they were published.