Evening star., 1961-11-23
3 Die as Jet
Crashes After
Brazil TakeOff
AirIiner En- Route
From Buenos Aires
To New York

To New York
SAC PAULO, Brazil, Nov. %
(AP). An Argentine Comet
jetliner with 50 persons aboard
exploded and burned just after
taking off for New York today.
First rescuers at the crash
scene said there were no sur
vivors.
The crash was the first
serious one for a Comet 4, a |
British plane that took over
from the Inflated Comet I and
inaugurated the first trans
Atlantic jetliner service in 1858.
The plane carried 40 pas
sengers and a crew of II, the
Aerolineas office in Sac Paulo
said.
New York Girl Aboard
In New York, a passenger
aboard the plane was identi-
fled as Martha Smart, II,
daughter Of Alberto Smart,
general manager of the air.
lines New York office.
Miss Smart was the oldest of
five children in her family.
She had been visiting her
grandmother in Argentina. The
family home is in Manhattan.
The line said one United
States citizen. 47-year-old Gill
bert Jean Luy, was a passenger.
His home address was not
given.
The plane crashed 2 miles
from Sac Palo's Viracopos Air
port.
The flight had originated in
Buenos Aires.
The Inflated plane was the
airline's flight 322.
Plane Exploded
Witnesses said the plane ex-
ploded less than two minutes
after taking off from the air
port which is 70 miles north
east of Sac Paulo. The flam-
ing 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
MoSca. 1t identified passengers
boarding at Sac Paulo as two
Hungarians and a Brazilian
Nationalities of the others
aboard wese not known imme-
diately.
After leaving Sac Paulo the
plane was to make one more
stop-at Trinidad-before fly
ing on to New York.
The plane plunged into hilly
terrain making it difficult for
rescue crews to reach it Cries
for help were heard but the
first men to arrive found no
survivors.
Badly Burned
All but two of the bodies
were described as burned so
badly that Identification would
be difficult.
Witnesses said Capt. Mosa
apparently was trying for an
emergency landing, as the
plane opened 600 yards of
clearing. destroying trees, be-
fore it fell down a slope. The
bodies are being taken to the
city of CampinaS, about IS
miles away.
In London. the British de
Havilland Aircraft Co. was
plunged into gloom over the
crash of its Comet "A plane
that took over from the ill-fated
Comet I after four years of
research costing millions of
dollars.
THE Comet 4 now is in serv-
ice all over the world" a COM
pany spokesman said. Alto
gether SIS of them are in service.
They have flown a total of 125
million miles and this is our
first serious crash"
Fatal Crash in SO
A previous crash-in Buenos
Aires in August, 1959-killed
the pilot. Another man died
of heart attack.
The Comet 4 was born out
of the Comet 1.-The jet air.
liner that made its maiden trip
in 1949 well ahead of any rivals.
Everything went we'll for Comet
I until 1852. Then a Comet
took off from Rome and dis
appeared near the island of
Elba. In April of the same year
another Comet took off from
Rome and disappeared near
Naples. Comets were with
drawn from service and re-
search and testing went into.
producing Comet 4.