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MEXICO CITY (UPI) - A DC-10 jetliner carrying 89 people from Los Angeles crashed and exploded in a ball of flame on landing in fog at Mexico City’s airport today, killing most of those aboard.Five hours after the crash. Western Airlines officials said they had located 15 survivors and expected no more, so at least 74 people probably died (Photo on page 2.)“The fuselage is split all over and it looks like a cracked walnut, still smoking,” said UPI reporter Debra Beachy. “There are charred bits of bodies all over It’s a hellish mess.” Most of the survivors were found in a 20-foot-long section of fuselage that slid into a concrete hangar and did not catch fire, rescue workers said.The precise cause of the crash was not known immediately.Airline officials said they recovered54 bodies five children, 22 women and 27 men and presumed the 20 people unaccounted for to be dead, Firemen and some 250 rescue workers loaded mangled bodies into white sheets held at the four corners by other rescue workers.Two airport workers who rushed to scene said they rescued a man strapped to his seat about 30 feet away from the main wreckage, writhing in agony with a flaming piece of metal on his lapOne survivor identified only as Pandora Dickinson told reporters that before the crash “there were flames and people were screaming Witnesses said the plane, which carried 76 passengers and 13 crew members earlier the airline said there were 77 passengers — touched down fine, but then bounced and veered to the right Its right wingdipped the airport’s post office building and spun around 180 degrees and burst into a ball of flame seen for blocks around the airport Chunks of the airplane, which was traveling at about 150 mph at the time of the crash, were scattered for at least 500 yards around the main wreckage about one mile east of the main airport terminal.Most of the survivors were in a 20-foot tail section that hit a concretehangar and did not catch fire.The plane landed at 6 56 a m. Kenosha time Normally, Benito Juarez airport is closed until 7 a m. because it lies in a valley about two miles from downtown Mexico Citv andwoften is shrouded by fog Officials said it was foggy at the time of the landingToday s was the fourth fatal crash involving the McDonnell Douglas IXM0 aircraft
Newspaper Details
Kenosha Tri Weekly Experiment
Kenosha, Wisconsin, US
Wed, Oct 31, 1979
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USA 11 Apr 2023
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