Crashed C46 Curtiss Airplane Found
Article 1
Investigations In Plane Crash.
The Recovered Corpse With Documents And Personal Belongings.
The Aviation, Airway Petrol And Customs Call For pride.
Yesterday’s plane crash surpassed all other accidents and political
events. All of the present Institutions, public or national, local or
foreign, took their responsibility in this matter seriously. Officials
who participated in the attempts of the plane destiny and location were
quite numerous: The Lebanese Airforce and its Boats_ other planes
belonging to various Airlines foreign and local _ Boats of the Navy
Squad in the Customs_ The Baltagi Boat and a British Navy Piece which
arrived from Cyprus with its different rescue equipment etc…
But all together could not offer any successful aid.
The Navy Base, Pride to Lebanon.
All the research and rescue attempts took place under the surveillance
and administration of The Lebanese Army-Navy Airbase. This new party was
capable of proving its existence proudly and it controlled the recovery
operations with the aid of its vehicles and technicians.
The Number Of corpses is only fourteen
An error occurred in stating the number of corpses recovered until now.
It was said that the number of corpses was seventeen. Whereas it turned
out yesterday morning that the correct number was only fourteen. Out of
which ten were men, three women and an unidentified corpse due to
severity of its burns which hid its features and external looks. All the
corpses were transported to Hotel Dieu De France Hospital and The
American University Hospital. Until now the corpses identification has
not taken place yet.
The Navy Customs.
The Navy Customs played an important role in the case, and they
accomplished their duty at its best. Its men on board two boats
conducted a search for the plane location at two a.m.
Two Corpses And Documents
After several trials, And after the two custom boats sailed at a
distance of twelve miles west of the coast of Khaldeh, it was at nine
a.m. when they spotted some parts of the plane wreckage and picked up
the corpse of a man and another of a woman. Their features belonged to
foreigners while the lower parts of their bodies were missing. They had
recovered them along with the leg of an anonymous woman. They also
collected a small number of letters, documents, a collection of books
and magazines that were floating on the sea surface.
Wedding Ring And A Bank Check
They also found around the woman’s finger a wedding ring. Along with
another ring that had an engravement, a watch with a black fabric strap,
three pieces of garment, a bank check in the name of Bassem Saiid Al
Karbali, in the amount of 452 Sterling Pounds, ten Shillings and nine
pennies were found. All these belongings were delivered to the Lebanese
Army Navy Forces.
Until When Is the Search Going to Continue?
According to the International Law for Victims Rescue Operations, the
time limit for such operations is thirty-six hours. Consequently the
current search should proceed till two p.m. However, certain decisions
were taken to continue the search up until the corpse of the last victim
has been recovered.
The Recovered Things And Luggage.
In addition to the fourteen corpses that were recovered, a number of the
victims belongings which included around 40 pieces of fabric, clothes,
plane seats, around three-hundred letters, and a number of recorded
letters, were all held at the Navy Base waiting to be used in the
process of legal investigations.
The Boats Continue The Search
The Army Navy Base replied that the boats are continuing their search
since the early hours of the crash and that its men are taking turns in
their working hours in order to avoid missing out on any chance in
fulfilling their duties.
The Case Of the Gold Bars
Until this moment, the specialized sectors did not give the gold bars,
and the money that were claimed to be transported on board the plane to
Kuweit, any importance. They stated that the victims value from the
human and social point of view is worth a lot more than any gold bars,
personal belongings or precious metals. They also stated that duty first
calls to recover the corpses.
The Administrative and Legal Investigation.
Since the accident took place in the sector of Mount Lebanon, Mr.Joseph
Malhame was assigned by the authorities of Mount Lebanon to carry out
the investigations and to give in the report as soon as possible, in
order to find out if the accident was intended on purpose or not. Mr.
Joseph Malhame immediately addressed a warrant to the police justice
department in Beirut, to investigate and search for the victims’
identification cards. Last night, the head of the government personally
monitored the administrative investigations at the Civil Aviation
Division. Whereas yesterday morning, after the minister of public
affairs, requested a look at the investigation's report, he declared
that due to the severity of the case, he has decided to personally take
up the investigation himself. He also asked the specialized sector at
the Civil Aviation Division for all the reports that were conducted
since the beginning of the investigation. And yesterday morning the
minister headed to the Civil Aviation Division, then to Beirut
International Airport, where he himself continued the investigation by
listening to the reports of “LIA” Officials and the engineer officials
who were in charge of the plane take off.
Prior To Its Time
Along with this, rumors claimed that the crash was intentional. All due
to the presence of gold on board the plane, which was transported to
Kuweit. However, specialized officials stated that any claimed reason
for the plane crash is still too early to be taken into consideration,
since the investigation is still in its beginning.
The British Participation In Discovering The Plane And Its Victims.
London. In response to the public rescue calls for all ships and planes
in the area, two British planes belonging to the British Royal Airforce,
from their Air Force Base in Cyprus, participated in the search for the
two-engine plane and its passengers who crashed in the early hours after
leaving Beirut International Airport on their way to the Persian Gulf.
One of the British planes discovered the wreckage of the plane and
assigned its location and guided the Lebanese coast guard boats to the
sight. A minesweeper also participated in the search, in order to find
survivors among the plane passengers. It also helped throughout the day
in recovering the corpses and plane wreckage. After that, one of the
British Navy Vehicles attempted to mark the sight of the plane crash in
order to make the future recovery attempts easier. Unfortunately these
attempts failed due to the depth of the waters which
reached 200meters. The Lebanese authorities had notified the British
Embassy about the crash at an early time. This is due to the fact that a
number of the passengers were of British Nationality. They also provided
the Embassy with help in finding details concerning the victims
identities, in order to notify their relatives about the accident.
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