U.S. Jet Carrying 92 Hijacked", Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, July 2, 1968, p1 Cuban officials refused to allow the Boeing 727 to take off from the Havana Airport because of concerns that the 10500 feet runway was not long enough for a fully loaded 727 to depart, so the passengers and crew were taken by bus the next day to Varadero, where they boarded a Douglas DC-7 operated by an American "refugee airlift service". "