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.
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.
