Historical Event on 5/2/1953

40 persons were reported losing their lives today in the first crash of a jet airliner in commercial service. The jetliner, a British-built Comet, plunged to earth in a violent storm just a few minutes after taking off from Calcutta. It was carrying a party of rubber and tin operators from Malaya to England. There were no survivors. Two Comets have crashed before, one last October and one in March, but neither was carrying passengers.