Foreign Press

 

THE LOWELL SUN
SATURDAY, MAY 6, 1972
Italy jet crash kills 115

PALERMO, Sicily (UPI)—Alitalia DC8 jet liner carrying 115 persons smashed into a mountain near Palermo late Friday and disintegrated, killing all aboard. It was the worst aviation disaster in Italian history and came on the airline's 25th anniversary.
Authorities said none of the 108 passengers or seven crew members—almost all Italian survived.
The crash came as the plane approached Palermo airport to land at the end of a 50-minute flight from Rome.
Among the victims, officials said, was Italian film director Franco Indovina, 43, who has been romantically linked with Princess Soroya of Iran.
Most of the victims were Italian, many of them returning home to vote in national elections this weekend.
A Belgian stewardess was the only known foreigner aboard.
The worst previous airline disaster in Italy occurred in 1959 when a Trans World Airways jet disintegrated in a storm near Milan, killing 68 persons.
OFFICIALS said the Alitalia jet slammed into a ridge 1,980 feet high, located 15 miles west of Palermo and overlooking the city airport.
Officials said the cause of the crash was not known.
Wreckage and charred, mutilated bodies were strewn'over an area covering 25 square miles in terrain  so wild it took rescue teams three hours to reach it.
Newsmen at the scene said flames burned trees and shrubbery, forming a blaze so tall people attending a political rally in a village five miles away could see it.
Pilot Roberto Bartoli, who had flown 8,400 accident-free hours,last contacted the Palermo airport control tower at 10:08 p.m. Officials said he did not indicate anything was wrong.
THE PLANE left Rome' 36 minutes late and was scheduled to carry 132 passengers. Among the 24 who did not make the flight was a man who told reporters in Rome he was trapped in an elevator.
"It was an act of God," he said. "I almost wept when I missed the plane. Now I rejoice."
The crash occurred exactly 25 years after Alitalia started operations with a single Fiat G12 plane borrowed from the Italian air force. Its fleet now totals 105 planes and it serves every continent

 

The Times Recorder
Your "Good Morning" Newspaper
ZANESVILLE, OHIO    43701     SATURDAY,    MAY    6,    1972
115 Persons Perish In Sicily Air Crash

PALERMO, Sicily (UPI) An Alitalia DC8 jetliner carrying 115 persons 'from Rome to Palermo crashed and burned on a mountainside Friday during a landing attempt. All aboard apparently perished.
A spokesman for the Italian airlines said the plane  was carrying 108 passengers and a crew of seven. There were no indications if there were any Americans aboard.
Rescue parties rushed In Montangna Lunga (Long Mountain) 16  miles west of  here reported finding a number of charred and mangled bodies. They said there were no immediate  signs of survivors.
Residents from a nearby village attending   a  campaign rally in connedction with Sunday's national elections said they saw a flash of  light on the mountainside, followed moments  later bv the sound of an explosion.

 

The Titusville Herald
TITUSVILLE, PA., SATURDAY MORNING, MAY 6, 1972
Jet Crashes In Sicily

PALERMO. Sicily (AP) — An Alitalia jet with 115 persons aboard crashed and burned on a mountainside Friday night as it approached Palermo on a flight from Rome. Police said first reports indicated there were no survivors.
The crash was in rugged terrain and rescue teams had difficulty reaching the area near the town of Carini three miles from the airport. Witnesses said the burning plane set fire to woods.
The plane, a four-jet DC8, carried 108. passengers and a crew of seven. The air line said it had no passenger list because none is required on a domestic flight.

 

THE CAPITAL TIMES
VOL. 110,No. 125 MADISON, WIS, Saturday, May6, 1972
Noted Film Director Killed
115 Perish as Alitalia Jet Crashes into Sicilian Peak

PALERMO, Italy - An Alitalia DC8 crashed in flames against a Sicilian mountain Friday night, killing all 115 persons aboard.
The victims included Franco Indovina, noted Italian movie director. He was one of many italian passengers aboard the flight en route from Rome to their native Sicily to vote in weekend elections.
He had directed such films as "Family Italian Style," and "Particular Games."
Police reported charred bodies, and no sign of life at the scene of the crash on a densely wooded slope near the town of Carini, three miles from Palermo.
The four-jet DC8 had made contact with the Palermo control lower and was preparing to land when contact was broken, airport sources said.
Witnesses at Carini said the  jet was in flames before it struck the mountainside. The weather was clear at the time.The burning plane set fire to the woods.
Alitalia saids passenger lists are not used on its domestic flights but all but two or three of the passengers were Italian.
Two other plane crashes this year claimed more than 100 lives each. A Danish charter jet carrying 106 European tourists and a crew of six crashed on a Persian Gulf mountainside in March, killing all 112 aboard. In January, all 104 persons aboard perished in the crash of a Spanish airliner in the fogbound Balearic Islands.
The worst aviation disaster on record was the collision of a domestic All Nippon airliner and a Japanese air force jet in which 162 persons perished last July.

 

Independent Press-Telegram
LONG BEACH, CALIFORNIA, SATURDAY, MAY 6, 1972
115 die in worst Italy air crash

PALERMO, Sicily (UPI) — An Alitalia DC8 jetliner carrying 115 persons crashed and burned during a landing attempt at Palermo's Punta Raisi Airport Friday night, killing all aboard. It was the worst crash in Italian aviation history.
A spokesman for the Italian airline, which celebrated its 25th anniversary Friday, said the plane carried J08 passengers and a crew of seven. A passenger list was not released immediately but there were not believed to be any Americans aboard.
The plane crashed into a mountain during a landing approach at the airport, which is located on a narrow plain between the mountain range and the Tyrrhenian Sea.
The worst previous crash in Italy was when a Trans World Airlines plane crashed in a storm near Milan in 1959, killing 68 persons.
It took rescue crews three hours to reach the site because of the rugged terrain. Reports from the site said workers found charred and mangled bodies. "First checks on the scene lead us to believe that there are no survivors," an Alitalia spokesman said.
Rescue parties rushed to Montagna Lunga (Long Mountain) 16 miles west of here reported finding a number of charred and mangled bodies. They said there were no immediate signs of survivors.
Residents from a nearby village attending a campaign rally in connection with Sunday's national elections said they saw a flash of light on the mountainside, followed moments later by the sound of an explosion.
Red Cross ambulances, firemen and police, rushed to the scene. Soldiers and volunteers also took part in the rescue attempt.
The plane was on a flight from Rome to Palermo.

 

IRONWOOD DAILY GLOBE
IRONWOOD, MICHIGAN, SATURDAY, MAY 6, 1972
Plane Crash Kills 115

PALERMO.  Italy (AP) — An Alitalia DC8 crashed in flames against a Sicilian mountain Friday night killing all 115 persons aboard.
The victims included Franco Indovina, noted Italian movie director. He was one of many Italian passengers aboard the flight en route from Rome to their native Sicily to vote in weekend elections. He had directed such films as "Family Italian Style," and "Particular Games."
Police reported charred bodies and no sign of life at the scene of the crash on a densely wooded slope near the town of Carini, three miles from Palermo. The four-jet DC8  had made contact with the Palermo control tower and was preparing to land when contact was broken, airport sources said. Witnesses at Carini said the jet was in flames before it struck the mountainside. The weather was clear at the time. The burning plane set fire to the woods.
Alitalia said passenger lists are not used on its domestic flights but all but two or three of the  passengers were Italian.

 

THE ODESSA AMERICAN
Odessa. Texas, Saturday. May 6.1972
115 Killed In Italian Plane Crash

PALERMO. Sicily (AP)  — An Alitalia jet with 115 persons aboard crashed and burned on a mountainside Friday night as it approached Palermo on a flight from Rome. Police said first reports indicated there were no survivors.
The crash was in rugged terrain and rescue learns had difficulty reaching the area near the town of Carini three miles from the airport Witnesses said the burning plane set fire to woods.
The plane, a four-jet DC8,  carried 108 passengers and a crew of seven.
The airline said it had no passenger list because none is required on a domestic flight.

 

The Sheboygan Press
SHEBOYGAN, WIS,. SATURDAY, MAY 6, 1972
Fiery Crash In Sicily Fatal To 115

PALERMO, Italy (AP) — An Alitalia DC8 crashed in flames against a Sicilian mountain Friday night killing all 115 persons aboard.
The victims included Franco Indovina, noted Italian movie director. He was one of many Italian passengers aboard the
flight en route from Rome to their native Sicily to vote in weekend elections. He had directed such films as "Family
Italian Style," and "Particular Games."
Police reported charred bodies and no sign of life at the scene of the crash on a densely wooded slope near the town of
Carini, three miles from Palermo. The four-jet DC8 had made contact with the Palermo control tower and was preparing to land when contact was broken, airport sources said.
Witnesses at Carini said the jet was in flames before it struck the mountainside. The weather was clear at the time. The burning plane set fire to the woods.

 

Daily Journal
Saturday, May 6, 1972
Plane Crash in Sicily, Kills 115

PALERMO, Italy (AP) — An Alitalia DC8 crashed in flames against a Sicilian mountain Friday night killing all 115 persons aboard
The victims included Franco Indovina noted Italian movie director. He was one of many Italian passengers aboard the flight en route from Rome to their native Sicily to vote in weekend elections. He had directed such films as "Family Italian Style" and "Particular Games"
Police reported charred bodies and no sign of life at the scene of the crash on a densely wooded slope near the town of Carini three miles from Palermo The four-jet DC8 had made contact with the Palermo control tower and was preparing to land when contact was broken, airport sources said
Witnesses at Carini said the jet was in flames before it struck the mountainside The weather was clear at the time The burning plane set fire to the woods
Alitalia said passenger lists are not used on its domestic flights but two or three of the passengers were Italian

 

The Daily Cleaner
KINGSTON, JAMAICA, SATURDAY, 6 MAY, 1972
115 feared dead in DC-8 crash

PALERMO, Sicily, May 5, (Reuters):
An Alitalia DC-8 airliner carring 115 people crashed into a mountainside as was it was coming in to land at Palermo Airport tonight and rescue workers said there appeared to be no hope of any survivors.
The aircraft was on a fight from Rome to Palermo with 108 passengers and seven on crew on board.
It slammed into the side of a 2.250 feet mountain on the southern side of the airport after coming in over the sea to land, and exploded in a ball of the flame.
Rescue workers equipped with floodlights said they found charred and dismembered bodies on the wooded mountainside where the disaster occurred.
Wreckage appeared to be scattered over a wide area, and rescuers said it appeared impossible that anyone could have survived.

 

STAR-NEWS
PASADENA, CALIFORNIA, SATURDAY, MAY 6, 1972
Falls in Flames
Italian Air Crash
claims 175 Lives

PALERMO, Sicily (AP) - An Alitalia airliner full of Sicilians going home to vote in Sunday's national elections crashed and burned on a mountainside Friday night and all 115 persons aboard perished.
The flaming crash on a wooded slope three miles from the Palermo airport was the worst in the history of Italy's national airline.
The four-jet DC8, on a flight from Rome, was approaching the airport when it fell near the town of Carini. Some people attending a political rally in Ihe town square said the plane was in flames before it struck, setting fire to the woods.
Rescue teams found charred bodies and wreckage scattered over a wide area.
Friends said many of the passengers were returning to Sicily to vote for Italy's new parliament in the crucial election Sunday.
The weather was clear at the time.
Airport sources said the plane had made contact with the control tower in preparation for a landing but then went silent.
The airline said it had no passenger list because none was required on a domestic flight.
Last July in the worst aviation disaster on record, a Japanese domestic All Nippon airliner and a Japanese air force jet collided, killing 162 persons.
Ten other crashes have taken more than 120 lives each.
Two other airline crashes this year killed more than 100 persons each.
A Danish charter jet carrying 306 European tourists and a crew of six crashed on a Persian Gulf mountainside in March, killing all 112 abroad.
All 104 persons aboard a Spanish airliner died in January when the plane crashed in fog just before a scheduled landing at Ibiza, Balearic Islands.

 

The Oneonta Star
Oneonta, N.Y., 13820, Saturday, May 6, 1972
Plane crash kills 115

PALERMO, Sicily (AP) — An Alitalia airliner crashed and burned on a mountainside near Palermo Friday night and rescue teams indicated all 115 persons aboard perished.
Police reported charred bodies and no sign of life at the scene of the apparent worst disaster in the history of Italy's national airline.
The four-jet DCS, on a flight from Rome to Palermo, was approaching the airport when it crashed on a densely wooded slope near the town of Carini, three miles from Palermo.
Some people attending a political rally in the Carini town square said the plane was in flames before it hit the mountain.
The weather was clear at the time.
Airport sources said the plane had made contact with the control tower in preparation for a landing but then went silent.
The airline said it had no passenger list because none was required on a domestic flight.

 

Winnipeg Free Press
SATURDAY, MAY 6, 1972
115 Feared killed
Alitalia Jetliner Smashes Into Mountain

PALERMO, Sicily (Reuter) — An Alitalia DC-8 jetliner carrying 115 persons smashed into a mountain during the night while coming in to land here in bad weather, exploding in a ball of flames and setting surrounding woods on fire.
All 108 passengers, mostly Italians, and the seven crew members were feared to have died in the blazing wreckage scattered over a wide area of the 2,250-foot-high Montagna Lunga Long Mountain.
It was Italy's worst air disaster and came as Alitalia celebrated the 25th anniversary of its foundation on May 5, 1947.
Several hours after the crash late Friday night, rescue teams, tolling under floodlights dragged up the mountainside, said they had found most of the bodies.
All were charred and badly mutilated and strewn over the steep, wood-covered slopes near the peak of the Montagna Lunga, part of a chain of mountains ringing Palermo's Punta Raisi Airport.
Alitalia, in a communique issued in Rome, said: "First indications at the scene of the accident indicate that there are no survivors."
On the list of passengers, two passengers were identified only as Craighton and McCarthy and no further indication of their origin was available.
The airline identified the 23-year-old son of Cestmir Vicpalek, Juventus soccer club manager, who has the same name as his father, among the victims.