Word: marty
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...January, and a record of sorts was set last week when three jets carrying 238 people made forced landings in Havana within eight days. So far, nobody has been hurt-mainly because airline crews are carefully briefed for such an emergency. Pilots carry maps of Havana's Jose Marti Airport just in case, and stewardesses are instructed not to argue with would-be hijackers-simply to obey their orders. But nobody has yet thought to brief the poor passengers. The following orders might well be added to the "Important Information" cards commonly stuffed into the seat pockets of airliners...
...enjoy your stay. Most layovers last overnight, because Cuban authorities will not permit U.S. jets to take off with passengers from Jose Marti Airport, and it takes time for the airline involved to ferry over a substitute prop plane. Passengers meanwhile are billeted either at Jose Marti Airport or at one of two good hotels: the downtown Havana Libre (formerly the Havana Hilton), or the Varadero International, located 35 minutes out of town but convenient to Varadero Airport, from which your prop plane will depart. Depending on your accommodations, here is what to expect...
...Jose Marti Airport: You will be allowed to circulate freely and make purchases at the airport shops. Havana cigars (250 up) and Cuban rum ($1 per fifth) are the best buys. Neither can legally be imported into the U.S., but passengers on Eastern Flight 73 freely carried both through customs when they returned to Miami. There will be little opportunity for sightseeing, except during the trip to the airport on buses provided by the Swiss embassy...
...thin crowd waiting on the steaming concrete apron of Havana's Josè Marti Airport, consisting mostly of diplomats from Communist embassies, and the handshake from his only ally in the Western Hemisphere, Cuba's Fidel Castro, was sullen. There were no decorations, no honor guard, no military band. And not until half an hour after Kosygin's arrival did Radio Havana get around to mentioning the visit. Even then, it gave only a brief announcement barely longer than another item praising workers of the Balcan pasteurization plant for delivering their quota of yoghurt...
...plane neared Key West, four U.S. Navy F-102s streaked aloft to give it the once-over. But it already was curving back toward Cuba. It was long after dark, and the plane was touching down on the runway at Havana's José Marti Airport, when Betancourt caught on to the trick. Angrily, he ordered Alvarez to take off again. When the pilot refused, Betancourt shot him dead and frantically tried to get the plane off the ground himself. But the Ilyushin only roared off the end of the runway and came to rest in a plowed field...