- The Arkia flight 582 from Mombasa that came under missile
fire this morning shortly after takeoff, landed safely this afternoon at
Ben-Gurion International Airport outside Tel Aviv.
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- According to Army Radio, the Boeing 757 touched down
with 271 passengers and crew at about 12:40 p.m.
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- Nov. 28, 2002
- Israeli aboard Arkia: We didn't know for two hours about
the missile attack
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- Makhlouf Amsalem said passengers aboard Arkia Flight
No. 582 heard an explosion about two minutes after takeoff from Mombasa
Airport.
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- But they didn't find out exactly what happened until
two hours into the five-hour flight.
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- "I don't think we were more than 100 meters off
the tarmac," when the blast was heard, Amsalem,57, of Ashkelon, told
Army Radio.
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- "Some people saw smoke on the left side of the plane,"
he said. Nobody shouted and when they asked a stewardess if anything was
wrong, "they said everything was fine."
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- "In the middle of the flight, about two hours later
the pilot said there had been an attack in Mombasa and that two missiles
were fired that didn't hit the plane," Amsalem added.
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- Some passengers got upset, particularly those who had
left friends and relatives behind in Mombasa, he said. One passenger's
son was still in Mombasa during the attack, Amsalem said. "Then there
was some panic but people calmed them down."
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- http://www.jpost.com/servlet/Satellite?pagename=JPost/A/JPArticle/ShowFull&cid=1038465348369
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