Nacelle Scrapes Crates Close To Gate

An El Al Boeing 747-700 aircraft from New York was involved in a ground accident at Ben-Gurion International Airport on Thursday that knocked over crates of flowers near the gate.

The incident caused no damage to the aircraft or injuries to the 450 passengers on board.

The accident is yet another in a string of dangerous incidents at Ben Gurion airport. The International Civil Aviation Organization found severe security breaches in most of the country's aviation facilities in January 2007.

The Boeing brushed against crates of flowers which were positioned too close to its parking bay. Its' Passengers all disembarked without delay, according to a story In Haaretz.

The Israel Aviation Authority's accident department was investigating the incident. According to Yitzhak Raz, the flowers were simply placed too close to the airplane's motor in its parking bay, and it brushed against them.

"In this case, no danger was posed to passengers. All that happened was a slight scrape of the motor's exterior," he said.

Captain Lior Yavor, Deputy Manager of Operations at El Al, said the jet suffered only superficial damaged.

FMI: www.iaa.gov.il/Rashat/en-US/Airports/BenGurion/, www.elal.co.il/ELAL/English/States/USA/HomePage.htm?md=gl&cm=ELALUS&ag=BrandName&at=ad3&gclid=CNyd6OXC048CFR3whgodXRf_xg