As Israelis scramble to heed the call of duty and return to Israel, flag carrier El Al did not let the number of seats onboard serve as a constraint, with dozens of extra passengers purportedly flying in jump seats and on the floor of a 777 aircraft. While not unprecedented, it underscores the significant moment of this occasion.
More Passengers Than Seats As Reservists And Volunteers Return To Israel On El Al
Israeli IDF reservists have been called back from around the globe to fight. As Israel prepares to launch a ground offensive in Gaza which could unleash a wider war, reservists have been flying into Israel to report for duty while young people have flown in to enlist.
But with El Al one of the only carriers flying into Israel, the demand for seating exceeds the supply.
As shared by David Ha’ivri, one El Al captain did not let the number of seats on a 777-200 get in the way of transporting Israelis home from Bangkok to Tel Aviv:
Amidst all the waves of civil volunteerism and extraordinary mobilization throughout the country, I wanted to share and acknowledge another special thank you to the EL AL company.
On Tuesday morning I returned to Israel from Tokyo via Bangkok. Before boarding the plane from Bangkok to Israel, the terminal was full of young backpackers who want to return to Israel and enlist in Order 8 emergency call up for the reserves. Upon boarding, they announced that all those who still do not have a seat will wait and try to get everyone on the plane. There were dozens of young people there who wanted to go back to enlist!
El Al took all the available seats on the plane and filled up to the last seat on the plane. I felt sorry for those who could not go up due to lack of space. Then to my surprise, after they finished filling the plane, the El Al people took more than twenty young women and put them on the plane and put them in the crew’s folding chairs. And after that the captain gave permission and more than ten young men to sit on the floor in the kitchens and near the doors of the plane were put on the flight.
In my entire life I have never seen a flight where dozens of people are sitting on the floor. During the entire flight, they slept on the floor wherever possible including near the cockpit, on the floor in the business class and in every corner of the plane. The pictures speak for themselves and illustrate a little of what was on this special flight.
During the flight I saw the captain walking around the plane making sure the crew was taking care of all these wonderful young people.
Thanks to the wonderful team of El Al pilots and flight attendants for the extraordinary gesture. Kudos to the CEO of El Al for having such employees.
https://twitter.com/haivri/status/1713511171838345490?s=20
I’d like to think that if the US was attacked, we would see similar solidarity. There is something moving about the idea of a captain throwing rules and regulations out the window in the context of a greater calamity that is unfolding in Israel now.
Finally, I should note that all sides tend to use propaganda during a time of war. While the photo above suggests that this incident actually occurred, I think it is reasonable to point out (as I have with other stories) that sometimes the truth is not what it seems. Did the flight attendants stand during takeoff and landing if all the jump seats were taken? Did the captain patrol the cabin, ensuring that flight attendants cared for the young men? Or were passengers simply allowed to leave their seats in order to stretch out?
Sometimes we believe what we want to believe rather than what is true. While I don’t think that is the case in this context, we must guard ourselves by critically examining every claim placed before us. It is our duty.
In 1991, El Al transported over 1,000 passengers on a Boeing 747 evacuation flight from Ethiopia during that nation’s civil war. Thus, an extra 20-30 passengers seems wholly within the range of possibility and even likelihood.
CONCLUSION
An El Al flight operated from Bangkok to Tel Aviv with more passengers than seats onboard. When more reservists and volunteers turned up to fly than were seats available, they were boarded anyway and sat anywhere they could onboard.
(H/T: View From The Wing)
Free Palestine
… from Hamas. And GUWonder. But same-same, really (Nazis).
Your stupidity is only matched by your ignorance.
Well, at least I’m not a pedophile like you, Aaron.
In honor of your false claim, I’m making an additional donation to the SPLC which keeps up the fight against neo-Nazis and other hate groups in the US.
In all this darkness of inhumanity that is going around, there are some bright spots: people coming together to serve their fellow nationals. As evidenced by how Israelis rush back to stand by their fellow nationals and how Palestinian merchants in Gaza have been refusing to price gouge their desperate fellow nationals and how fleeing Palestinian families leave powdered milk and other shelf stable products for other internally displaced Palestinians to freely use as necessary while forced to flee by the IDF attacks on Gaza.
GUWonder is a nazi. Just so everyone knows this.
He said, and I quote:
“I hope Jew wh*res got raped good”.
I am not kidding.
What are you talking about?
you have some sickly sadistic fantasies and should seek mental help before hurting anyone else or yourself.
Your defamatory fabrications about me are your own immoral burden to carry in life, all while you eliminate whatever little credibility you think you may have had in this world with your fantasy thoughts put into words above.
Rape is torture, and torturers should face their due justice. And justice is due whether the victim is innocent, a criminal in jail or otherwise. And Justice is due whether the torturer is a state actor, state-backed actor or other criminal abuser — regardless of victim’s background. Prostitutes too can be just as much victims of rape as anyone else; and unfortunately too, rapes of prostitutes tend to get underreported and under-prosecuted — because you know why.
Free it from Arab occupation I agree.
Israel is taking back its land once and for all.
This is ridiculous. How is this even allowed? The pilot should be fired. Aside from air security: And social media even celebrates how young people, all blinded by their fanatic nationalism, hustle back to Israel to sacrifice their lives for a country that has never really cared to live in peace. I‘m shocked. If I were in this situation, I would run as far as my feet would carry me.
I’m sure you would.
You sound like a little whiny bitch. Calm down, missy. Your wife’s boyfriend needs a sammich.
Dear dude,
It takes character to stand against a tide of popular inhumanity rooted in anger. The snowflakes are those who lose form as their unbridled anger generates so much heat that it fries whatever moral center is in their brains and drives moral meltdowns under the banner of “fighting evil”.
Oh look, it’s the nazi, GUWonder. An American living in Sweden, the irony.
This is a major safety violation. I suppose though that they’re headed for a far more dangerous situation anyway.
+1 .
At first I thought this was the galley with overseas US flight attendants when a call button is hit.
(ha-ha .) Also . when I served in army , we had much more uncomfortable wet and muddy conditions in which to try to sleep .
It’s pretty inspiring to see the determination and dedication these IDF enlistees have to be able to participate in war crimes and the killing and starvation of Palestinian civilians. Truly moving.
Ridiculous comment. So was the torture and rape and killing of babies, women and elderly of Israelis inspiring to you as well?
Agreed. A disgusting comment by Josh.
Your cheerleading for israel is getting tiresome. We get it you don’t care about war crimes or the horrible conditions israel imposes upon the Palestinians
Absurd assumption that is totally false. What is disgusting is a failure to condemn Hamas.
How about both are wrong?
Because its a false narrative pushed by the arab/terroists enablers.
Even more ignorant nonsense than what we hear from Loretta.
The arabs brought it on themslves when they murder children and squat on land that does not belong to them.
There is no palestine and there never has been. There are no palestinians only arab squatters on Jewish land.
The Idf is about fix that error.
The only thing that needs fixing are the errors in your comment.
You really are ignorant. Israel was created in the 1940’s. Palestine has been around since the ancient time and been controlled by many including the Ottomans.
I can’t imagine the Thai civil aviation authorities would allow this. What would their boarding pass say? Would Thai immigration let them out? This isn’t the raid on Entebbe, it’s a commercial flight operating on a high demand route.
I agree with Matthew’s doubts that El Al cabin crew will not be left without jump seats for take-off , landing , turbulence , rest , and all safety reasons . Myself , I am sure that cabin crew had their jump seats .
Lol, if the Thais tried to stop them it *would* be Entebbe 2. I’m not sure you people understand how Israelis work. It’s not your average Hollywood Jew, let’s put it like that.
I love seeing all the vocal fry/uptalk little American manlets clutch their pearls while they support l-i-t-e-r-a-l Nazis.
You’re on the wrong side of history. And join a gym, it won’t kill you, soybois.
LOL this was on a flight OUT of israel and not the other way round.
Just google this story and you’ll see the real info.
So United is bringing back garlic bread,you say?
LJ, you have some sickly sadistic fantasies and should seek mental help before hurting anyone else or yourself.
Your defamatory fabrications about me are your own immoral burden to carry in life, all while you eliminate whatever little credibility you think you may have had in this world with your fantasy thoughts put into words above.
Rape is torture, and torturers should face their due justice. And justice is due whether the victim is innocent, a criminal in jail or otherwise. And Justice is due whether the torturer is a state actor, state-backed actor or other criminal abuser — regardless of victim’s background. Prostitutes too can be just as much victims of rape as anyone else; and unfortunately too, rapes of prostitutes tend to get underreported and under-prosecuted — because you know why.