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Victoria Hen
July 4, 2002 - Victoria Hen, 25, an El Al ticket agent and Yaakov Aminov, 46, of Los Angeles, were shot and killed at the El Al ticket counter at Los Angeles International Airport. Four others were wounded.
The airport attack was carried out by Hesham Mohamed Hadayet, a 41-year-old Egyptian national, carrying a 45-caliber semiautomatic Glock pistol, a 9-millimeter handgun and a 6-inch knife. Hadayet pulled out a gun, shot Hen, then began firing at 80 to 90 people who were waiting in line for El Al's outbound flight to Toronto and ultimately to Tel Aviv. He was shot dead by an El Al security guard. When police searched his apartment after the attack, they found a sign taped to his door saying, "Read the Koran." U.S. authorities subsequently ruled it a terrorist attack related to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.
Vicky Hen had been on the El Al job for only two months, greeting and assisting passengers flying business class. "Vicky had a talent to take care of people and problems with a smile," said Michael Mayer, El Al general manager for North America.
Vicky's parents revealed that they had planned a surprise party for the following day, at which her fiance was to have formally asked for her hand in marriage.
The daughter of a family whose roots in the historical Israeli city of Safed go back some 700 years, Victoria Hen was buried in Los Angeles. She is survived by her parents, Avinoam and Rachel Hen, and her younger brothers, Nimrod and Udi.
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