Just A Little Sheet Metal And Smoke Damage

El AL, the national airline of Israel, suffered a little bit of "tsuris" (bad luck) on Monday, according to YNet News of Israel.

While parked at the loading gate at Ben Gurion Airport in Tel Aviv, a cooling cart being pulled by a tractor struck the trailing edge of an El Al aircraft  as the plane was being boarded. The 78 passengers evacuated the plane without incident, transferred to another aircraft, and flew safely on to Frankfurt, Germany.

At almost the same time, an El Al pilot flying a 747 from Luxemburg reported a red light in one of the freight compartments in the jumbo's belly. The malfunction was enough to cause an emergency to be declared when the plane landed at Ben Gurion. Rescue units discovered that one of the pallets loaded with flammable liquids had come loose in the cargo bay.

"It was definitely a dangerous situation. The guys really worked sharply to neutralize the substances," said Menachem Kaspi, head of the fire fighting crew to YNet.

In better news, it was reported that El Al ranked number two in take off punctuality without delays. The airline earned a score of 83% from the European Cockpit Association.

FMI: www.elal.co.il