A Dreaded First for Aeroflot

Authorities in the ancient Black Sea port of Trebizond, Turkey, bustled about excitedly last week as the Soviet Aeroflot AN-24 craft circled for an unscheduled landing. After all, few foreign planes ever land in the small (pop. 66,000) market town. Excitement soon turned to consternation as frantic passengers scrambled out the rear door and two bloodied pilots staggered from the front of the plane. Both had been wounded by gunshots. Inside lay the stewardess, 18-year-old Nadezhda Kulchenko, dead of a bullet wound. That dreaded international malady, skyjacking, had finally spread to Russia.

Two of the passengers, Koveysvo Bransizkas, 46, and his son Prano Algirdas, 18, were seized by Turkish military authorities. The two readily admitted hijacking the craft while it was on a short run between the Soviet Georgian cities of Batumi and Sukhumi. They said they wanted to escape Russia and requested political asylum.

According to Aeroflot Captain Oganes Babayan, the pair had burst into the cockpit and when the pilots tried to radio an alarm to the ground, opened fire. One passenger said the stewardess was killed as she tried to keep the hijackers out of the cockpit. The hijackers carried five firearms and three hand grenades--an extraordinary arsenal in any case but particularly for Soviet citizens, who are prohibited from owning firearms without special permission.* They also had about $5,000 in Soviet and U.S. currency.

Since 1964 there have been at least three other hijack attempts aboard Soviet civilian aircraft, all involving live gunfire. In 1966, three would-be hijackers were shot at by a Soviet pilot, indicating that crew members are armed at least some of the time. Last June authorities arrested a number of Soviet Jews in Leningrad who were allegedly plotting to escape official harassment by hijacking an airliner.

Previously, the authorities took no special precautions against potential hijackings. They figured that existing controls, including an internal passport system, were strict enough. The Bransiz-kases' bloodily successful job may change all that.

The Soviets were understandably incensed by Turkey's handling of the case. After releasing the plane, Ankara granted political asylum to the Bransizkases. Moreover, despite attempts of the Trebizond prosecutor to bring the pair to trial on charges of murder, the courts quickly freed them. In an age of rising air piracy, Turkey's astonishing action seemed to sanction a double standard for "good" and "bad" hijackers (TIME, Sept. 28)--though it is difficult to see how the Bransizkases could be accorded much sympathy, whatever their political problems at home. Moscow is not likely to let the Turks forget about their handling of the case.

* Guns are frequently easier to obtain in the southern part of the U.S.S.R., however, because of less rigid control and small-arms factories located in the area. Workers smuggle weapons out of the plants and sell them on the black market.

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