Cairo Egypt 1982 - Busses and Streetcars Near Tahrir Square / Libyans on a Plane / Why don't we do it on the floor

            A quiet moment in the heat of a mid August day. At front is part of the chaotic bus terminal in front of the Nile Hilton. In the middle distance is a streetcar, made somewhere in Eastern Europe. In the center of the background is Qasr el Nil Street, named for the former British barracks on the site where the Nile Hilton is today. 

At right is the TWA airline office, the main US airline to Egypt, operator of the "frequently hijacked" "death flights" 846 / 847 to New York via Rome and Athens. Landed at Athens several times but never even saw the terminal -- the plane was always parked way out on the runway. On the 1983 flight to Cairo some of the passengers got bored waiting 3 hours at Athens for the flight to continue and went down the stairs to pose next to the plane. The plane was immediately surrounded by numerous tanks and everyone was told to return to the plane and stay inside. Eventually several hundred Libyans entered the plane (a 747 SP) - they were limited to the robe and sandals they were wearing, no carry-on or checked baggage, nothing in the pockets. The land border between Libia and Egypt was closed and they needed to go through Athens. Since I was sitting in the seat by the entrance in the first class section they all went by me -- the only one who could read and write borrowed a pen to fill out the landing cards for the entire group. Their possessions were sent later, after a thorough inspection, on a cargo flight.

A month later, while waiting in the departure area in Cairo for the return flight, a Libyan child (not a small one!) did something "rude and unsanitary" on the floor while his parents looked on approvingly. Restrooms, both traditional and western, were a few steps away.

Added 9/11/14 - a few years later I was on a flight ready to depart JFK for LA. The doors were locked and the plane started to back away from the gate. Some one sitting in the First Class section (who had just come in on the "death flight" from Athens) started shouting and demanding to be let off without his baggage. There was immediately an "emergency evacuation" (without returning to the gate). the shouter was arrested and the other passengers led into a secure underground bunker while the plane was searched. The entire airport was shut down - no landings, no take offs, no planes allowed to move. After a few hours the previously searched baggage was brought into the bunker one bag at a time and the owner was asked to step foward to claim it. It was then rechecked and put back on the plane. Once out of the bunker I called my sister -- there had been no mention on the 6PM local news. A travel agent said this had happened to him several times before. The passengers were given the choice to take a different plane - only 1 or 2 did. Eventually the airport was re-opened and the remaining passengers took off. The airline gave out free drinks to everyone and had extra meals available. No one complained about the delay.

Taken in: مصر / القاهرة / القاهرة / Al-abidin (show map)

Taken on: August 14, 1982

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Egypt

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Sets appears in: • Egypt 1982 / 1983 / 1987 - Been There, Done That (and glad of it)

Groups appears in: • Egypt, Street Views and public life

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