The King Chasers

Jordan's King Hussein was off at last on his long-planned three-week vacation in Europe. With the man who taught him to fly, R.A.F. Wing Commander Jock Dalgleish, beside him as copilot, the young King flew his twin-engined de Havilland Dove, with the royal Hashemite standard painted on its stabilizer, humming high above the Syrian desert at a modest 160 m.p.h. Suddenly the Damascus radio crackled a warning that the plane had no overflight clearance, demanded the identity of its crew and passengers. The King refused and turned the controls over to Dalgleish, defying an airport order to land at Damascus.

Before they knew it. two Syrian MIG 17 jets swooped down in an "aggressive" pass. Dalgleish plunged the royal plane earthward, hedgehopped for 20 minutes as it fled back to the Jordanian border while the Syrian MIGs, flown somewhat amateurishly, made five more "quarter attacks" at the plane, but without firing. Landed safely at his capital city of Amman, King Hussein turned to Dalgleish, grinned: "Let's have some breakfast."

Furor in Amman. This lighthearted mood soon passed: the Bedouin-led Jordanian army, which had been poised outside the city in case trouble started in the King's absence, now wanted to march on Syria's Damascus. Troops swarmed in the streets of Amman, firing shots in the air, shouting: "Long live Hussein!" and "Hussein, we are your men!" Grateful citizens carried Hussein on their shoulders. Premier Samir Rifai informed the U.N. representative in Amman, Pier P. Spinelli, that the government intended to protest Syria's behavior to the U.N. Security Council. Jordan demanded an immediate meeting of the Arab League Council to take action. U.A.R. officials replied that Hussein's plane had been crossing Syria without proper clearance and had been intercepted by its MIGs in a routine and perfectly legal manner. Cairo newspapers ridiculed what they called "Hussein's heroics" and claimed his report of events was "a story dreamed up by imperialists for a child to tell the world."

Who's to Blame? Jordan's airport control tower at Amman had relayed the King's flight plan--from Amman to Beirut via Syria--as required by the international aviation regulations. But had anyone also obtained the overflight clearance through diplomatic channels required before the King's plane could cross a foreign border? There was an embarrassing silence in Amman. Someone thought the flight had been cleared through U.N. Representative Pier Spinelli. In a prompt denial, Spinelli snapped: "What do you think we are, a travel bureau?" The chief of the Royal Jordanian Air Force, Lieut. Colonel Ibrahim Othman, who still suffers occasional blackouts from head injuries suffered when he was caught and badly mauled by the Baghdad mob during the July 14 rebellion in Iraq, remembered having given someone an order to obtain diplomatic clearance from Syria, but failed to follow it up.

At week's end Jordan was still lustily celebrating the King's deliverance, as well as his 23rd birthday. Whatever the unpopularity of his regime, the festivities proved that he was personally popular, and admired more than ever now for having shown the quality of luck. Had he been killed over Syria, however, Jordan might now be plunged into revolution, and the Middle East into war. This knowledge kept everyone from laughing too hard at the great snafu.

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