EPILOGUE Several days after our highjacking, Zvi Tohar was dismissed from being Manager of Flight Operations Division and Tom Jones was dismissed from being Vice-President Operations. Both went back to fly the line. Shortly afterwards, Zvi Tohar while driving his car back home from the airport suffered a brain-hemorrage, hit a tree and died. Tom…

“FESTIVAL ALGERIA”. BACK TO STICK AND RUDDER. When we arrived at the parking area in front of the Terminal, I was asked to be the first to disembark. The door was opened and the AOC, Major-General Motty Hod stood there. I saluted him and we shook hands. All around us was a huge crowd of…

FREEDOM AT LAST. WE RETURN TO ROME. The only thing worth mentioning after our meeting with the delegates of IFALPA is the end to the quarrel between Elkana Shemen and Lashmi. Elkana, on his own initiative, decided to beg pardon from Lashmi and did it the day after the meeting with IFALPA. Both hugged and…

“OPERATION RUTTY”. THE ALGERIANS ARE STRESSED. WE RETURN TO THE BARRACKS. SECOND VISIT OF THE IFALPA DIRECTORATE. After my return to Israel, I found out more about the plans for our rescue operation. The Israeli Defense Forces (IDF) had rented a cargo ship and dismantled the entire deck. 6 AB-205 helicopters were loaded within the…

THE ALGERIANS FIND OUT ABOUT THE IDF’S INTENTIONS AND WE ARE RELOCATED. AN EXTORTIONER TRIES TO DEFRAUD INES. LOVER-BOY SHOWS HIS HAND. On the 20th day after our arrival, at about 10 at night, after we had finished our dinner and the meal-duty-detail had aleady cleared the table and returned the containers to the guards…

HOW INES WAS TOLD OF OUR HIGHJACKING. THE ISRAELI GOVERNMENT TRIES TO ORGANIZE AN EMBARGO ON ALGERIA. THE IDF PREPARES A RAID ON ALGIERS’ INTERNATIONAL AIRPORT TO RELEASE US. After we were released, my wife, Ines, told me what happened in Israel after our hijacking. Ines and the girls slept deeply that night. The fact…

WE ORGANIZE A “SHABBAT PARADE”. THE CHILDREN, WOMEN AND STEWARDESSES ARE RELEASED. WE GET ORGANIZED FOR A LONG STAY. Before we went to bed that evening, I asked if any of the crewmembers had a bible. Nobody had one, but one of the stewardesses had a small prayer book which she received as a present…

OUR MEETING WITH THE ARAB MEDIA. THE TERRORIST ORGANIZATION CHIEFS COME TO SEE THEIR CATCH. Next day, after our morning coffee, Sergeant Lashmi came in and told Monsieur Jacques that we were to go out for a morning walk. They took all of us–crew and passengers together–and led us a short distance from our building…

After a short while, two employees of “Air Algerie” appeared, accompanied by the Sergeant and an Officer. They were a steward and a stewardess with the Algirian airline. After the usual greetings, my crewmembers began asking them for different items, and soon the requests began to pile up. Aside from one request, by the purser…

ALGERIA: WE ARE BILLETED IN AN ARMY BARRACKS The crew returned to the stairs properly dressed and proceeded down. We were asked to enter a large police car intended for detainees and were driven to the terminal. There, we were ushered into a large room which served as the lobby of the Air Traffic Control…