A Paris-bound Israel passenger plane crashed at the Lydda airport, near here, last night during a take-off in a blinding snow storm. Only two of the 46 passengers were injured slightly, but it is feared that the plance is a total loss and that there was about $250,000 in demages.
The plane, a Douglas DC-4, owned by the El Al airline, a government subsidized corporation, began its normal take-off run, but trouble developed before it was airborne and the pilot attempted to brake the ship. However, due to the snow and ice, the four-engine plane skidded off the runway and caught fire. The steward and stewardesses conducted the passengers to safety in an orderly manner, according to a statement issued by the company.
Among the passengers were Aubrey Eban and a delegation bound for Rome to discuss a communications agreement and an air-sea transportation pact. The plance was named the Theodor Herzl, in honor of the founder of modern Zionism, whose remains it carried from Vienna to Tel Aviv last year.
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