HB-ILA  Douglas DC-4-1009                      (c/n  43072)

                              

                                  In late 1946/early 1947 Swissair acquired four brand new DC-4s from Douglas (some of the last
                                  DC-4s ever built)..   Here are two views of the first one.   They were later transferred to the newly
                                  formed subsidiary Balair (a resurrection of the name of one of its founders) in 1960 who also
                                  acquired four more DC-4s of their own.   HB-ILA was written off when it flew into a slope of the
                                  Djebel Marr mountains in the Sudan while cruising at 8000 feet.  A navigational error was named
                                  as the cause of the catastrophe.   The aircraft was on a charter flight from Niamey Airport in Niger
                                  to Khartoum.   All 12 on board were killed.