Missile attack kept secret from passengers

Passengers targeted in today’s failed missile attack on an Israeli airliner said they heard a loud boom just after takeoff, but were told by the crew it was a technical problem.

After landing safely in Israel, the pilot of the Arkia Airlines Boeing 757, Rafi Marek, said he felt a “light hit” and saw two white vapour trails on the left of the aircraft, but initially did not think the plane was under attack, believing instead it had hit a bird.

The pilot, speaking at Ben Gurion International Airport near Tel Aviv, did not say at what point he suspected the plane had been targeted by missiles. The plane had 261 passengers and 10 crew members on board.

“Immediately after the takeoff, at a very low altitude, we felt a light hit on the plane,” Marek said. “My first thought was that a bird had hit the plane. Then we saw two white vapour trails on the left side.”

He said that after checking the plane’s systems, he decided to continue flying to Israel.

Once the plane entered Israeli airspace, it was accompanied by an Israeli fighter plane, passengers said.

Passengers, some of them crying, were greeted at the airport by worried relatives. Airport workers handed out red, pink and yellow roses to the women passengers.

Passenger Kerry Levy, 25, said the aircraft’s wheels had just lifted off the runway at Mombasa airport when she felt a rattle.

“It felt like something fell off the wing,” she said .

Her travel companion, Sharon Heldth, 23, said the pilot told the passengers that it apparently was a technical mishap. Only an hour before landing were the passengers told the truth.

“There was a big uproar” in response, Heldth said.

The Israelis aboard the Arkia flight had been spending a week at the Israeli-owned Paradise Hotel which was attacked by suicide bomber today

Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon has asked the famed Mossad spy agency to track down the assailants and those who sent them.