Yaacov Roman. the El Al pilot who was captain of the El Al plane whose passengers were attacked yesterday at the Istanbul airport terminal, said today he had decided to taxi the plane to a far side of the airport because its landing site was an excellent target for the attackers.
He said that when the attack began, the plane was parked exactly opposite the terminal, so his first reaction was to move the plane in a hurry. He started two of his four engines and taxied to a far end of the airfield, well out of the range of small arms fire.
It is El Al practice to move passengers from an airport terminal to its planes by bus. One bus load of passengers had boarded the plane when the attack began. After he moved the plane. Roman said, he decided not to take off until he knew what was happening to the rest of the passengers. Then a second busload of passengers came to the plane, including several of the injured, but because of the confusion that accompanied the attack, it was impossible to locate the final group of passengers due to board the plane, so he decided to take off for Tel Aviv. Roman said.
SOME OF THE INJURED IDENTIFIED
Meanwhile, Israeli officials at Istanbul reported by telephone to the army broadcasting station that the Turkish authorities were demonstrating efficiency in handling the aftermath of the attack. The injured are now in several hospitals in Istanbul. Israeli Legation personnel have visited all of them. Some of the injured may be released tomorrow morning to return to Israel, it was reported.
It was also reported that there are 12 Israelis among the 14 seriously injured passengers in Istanbul hospitals. The two others are a Swiss national and a Spanish national. Another less seriously injured victim is a Turkish Jew employed by El Al in Istanbul.
Israeli officials stressed the problems of determining the identities of the dead and injured, reporting that as of today, a complete list of the Israelis hurt in Istanbul was still not available. Almost all of the injured brought last night to Israel on the El Al plane had suffered superficial wounds caused by splinters hitting them in the legs and other lower parts of the body, according to Dr. Itzhak Shani, director of the Sheba Medical Center, who examined them.
The names of six injured Israelis brought here were given as Levi Zahav, Uri Ron, whose condition was found to be much better than had been initially reported, Miriam Yahav, Nina Sheinman, Rivka Basin and Israel Malchi. Two or three members of a family named Manesowitz were injured in the assault and are hospitalised in Istanbul.
Turkish officials are questioning the captured terrorists and will bring them before a judge later this week, it was reported here.
JTA has documented Jewish history in real-time for over a century. Keep our journalism strong by joining us in supporting independent, award-winning reporting.
The Archive of the Jewish Telegraphic Agency includes articles published from 1923 to 2008. Archive stories reflect the journalistic standards and practices of the time they were published.
