53 Die In Crash Of French Plane

Press, Volume XCVIII, Issue 29010, 26 September 1959, Page 13

53 Die In Crash Of French Plane

(Rec. 9 p.m.) BORDEAUX, September 25. Fifty-three persons, including three Britons, were killed when a French airliner crashed and burst into flames seconds after take-off from Bordeaux just before midnight.

A total of 65 persons including a crew of nine, were aboard The 12 survivors, included three children—one of them 18 months old—and the Health Minister of the French Cameroons, Mr Sekou Sissoko.

The DC-7 plane was on a flight from Paris to Abidjan, Ivory Coast, and Bamako, in the Sudanese Republic. It had taken on a full load of fuel during its two-hour stop at Bordeaux. The bodies of 23 adults and three children had been recovered, said a communique issued early today by the private-ly-owned Transport Aerians Intercontinentaux iT.A.L). The survivors were thought to have been thrown clear at the moment the plane hit the ground The plane smashed a 100-yard-long path through a, pine forest, scattering wreckage over a wide area.

Servicemen at the airport who watched the take-off said that within seconds there was a loud explosion and two huge flashes of light were seen trailing from the plane. According to the American Associated Press, witnesses at the airport said the plane ran the length of the. runway and only managed to gain a few feet of altitude at the end. “We could hear the engines coughing." said one. “The pilot seemed to be fighting for control He made several attempts to get the plane's nose up. but the plane just wobbled. It hooked the tops of the trees and then plunged into the ground.”