Curtiss C-46 Commando Limited Edition Photograph - by Aviation Photographer John Stroud

This is Beirut International Airport.  It's 1955 and it has been open for barely a year.  It is already the transport hub for most of the Middle East.   

One of those growing airlines that uses Beirut is Lebanese International Airways.  Created with assistance from Pan Am it starts scheduled services in January 1956 using a mix of aircraft including this ex-USAAF Curtiss C-46 Commando.  OD-ACK was delivered to the US military in 1944 before being transferred to LIA in 1956 in preparation for the start of their services.  Here they are loading baggage in front of the terminal building before a flight to Kuwait.

Just over a year later this aircraft is on another flight to Kuwait.  The crew tells air traffic control they have a fire. Nothing more is heard and then the aircraft crashes into the sea.  No survivors from the 27 passengers and crew.

As for LIA they continue to grow until early in January 1959 when there is an Israeli commando raid on Beirut. Two LIA DC-7s and two CV990 Coronados are destroyed. That same year the airline, unable to continue operations, is taken over by MEA Air LIban. 

Two sizes are available. The 14" image is limited to 30 copies, while the 22" version is limited to 20 copies