men in white suits...

[Dirk van der Woude]

Uit de Haaretz van heden
  (http://www.haaretzdaily.com/htmls/6_15.asp)


By Zohar Blumenkrantz, Ha'aretz Aviation
Correspondent

Israel will submit responses today to
questions raised by the Dutch
parliamentary committee investigating
the 1992 El Al crash in Amsterdam.

The responses will be submitted by Avner
Yarkoni, head of the Civil Aviation
Administration (CAA). Yarkoni is
currently in Amsterdam in an effort to
ease the crisis in aviation relations
that has developed between the two
countries.

The three issues Yarkoni will address
are the identity of the "men in white
overalls" who eyewitnesses saw gathering
evidence at the scene of the crash
shortly after it happened; the identity
of the "security official" - apparently
an Israeli - who asked to participate in
one of the local police patrols; and a
detailed itemization of the 20 tons of
cargo the plane was carrying.

The original cargo manifest did not
satisfy Dutch authorities.

In addition to dealing with the
parliamentary committee, Yarkoni's other
main task while in Holland is to
negotiate with the customs authorities.

Customs officials have stepped up their
inspections of El Al cargo flights, and
are now routinely delaying them in a
manner which, according to Israel, is
damaging the airline's operations.

Yarkoni will also try to advance Arkia's
request to run charter flights to the
Netherlands. Arkia's application was
rejected on procedural grounds last
week, saying the Israeli airline had
failed to file the necessary documents
by the stated deadline.

Arkia CEO Israel Borovich, however,
denies this. The Dutch claim, he said
yesterday, "is simply false. The Dutch
are using bureaucracy so they won't have
to let us operate Israeli charter
flights to Amsterdam. What procedures
are they talking about? We asked to land
there twice a week, or even once a week,
and they did not permit it. We have
landing rights in our hands, but the
airport authorities in Amsterdam are
telling us they won't let us land
there."

Borovich last week asked the CAA to stop
Dutch charter companies from increasing
the number of their flights to Israel
unless the Dutch authorities approve
Arkia's request.