Soviet Plane Crew Stops for Bit of Needling

A Soviet cargo plane made an unscheduled landing at Lindbergh Field Saturday afternoon, and its 23-member crew was shot--with needles, that is.

The Soviet crew stopped over in San Diego to be inoculated against cholera before they reached their final destination--Peru. After the aircraft landed, the Soviet passengers were taken by bus to Mercy Hospital for their shots.

Hospital spokesman Michael Scahill said hospital officials were notified by the U.S. State Department Saturday morning that the Soviets needed re-vaccination before entering cholera-plagued Peru. The group had been touring the United States before leaving for Peru, where they will ferry supplies to the South American countries where cholera has reached epidemic proportions.

Dr. Thomas Kravis, who heads Mercy emergency services, was able to obtain a supply of cholera vaccine from the Navy, Scahill said.

A Soviet pilot, who asked not to be identified, said the group was composed of civilians, aircraft technicians and flight crew members headed for Peru, “to do whatever they ask of us, to take cargo to where it’s needed.”

The Russians were told that they could not enter Peru without recent cholera inoculations, the pilot said.