52 Killed In Comet Crash

Press, Volume C, Issue 29680, 25 November 1961, Page 11

52 Killed In Comet Crash

(N.Z.P.A .-Reuter—Copyright) SAO PAULO, November 23. All 52 persons aboard a Comet 4 airliner of Argentine Airlines were killed when it exploded and crashed soon after taking off from Campina airport today.

Fifty of the bodies were so badly burned that they would be difficult to identify, Associated Press said. Witnesses said the plane exploded less than two minutes after taking off from the airport, which is 70 miles north-east of Sao Paulo. The flaming wreckage plunged into a eucalyptus plantation near the small town of Friburgo and burned for two hours after the crash. The airline said the plane was captained by Roberto Heavy rain was falling when the plane crashed. A doctor who arrived at the scene said the plane tore a furrow through the grove of eucalyptus trees and smashed into a cliff. He said everyone was dead when he reached toe smoking wreckage. Because roads were soft with mud, firemen had to walk the last five miles to the disaster scene. As the plane smashed through toe trees it left a trail of wreckage and bodies for almost haft-a-mile, one man at the scene' said. Witnesses said the pilot apparently was trying to make an emergency landing. The bodies were taken to the city of Campinas, about 15 miles away. Cause Unknown An airlines spokesman said toe cause of the explosion was not known. In New York, scores of people wanted information quickly about the fate of the

52 persons aboard. The man they rang was Mr Albert Smart, the United States manager for the airline. Each time he answered the telephone Mr Smart, a Brazilian, had to keep choking back his tears. His own daughter was on the plane. She was Martha Smart, aged 17, who was returning to New York after a visit to her grandparents.