 According to Petrov and Sankiisky, the Constellation initially pretended to follow the instructions and deployed its flaps and landing gear, but then sharply retracted them and changed course to Greece, hoping to escape the fighters.The pilots' account has subsequently been disputed; the location of the crash near Petrich (a town several kilometers away from the border with Greece) suggests that the El Al flight had been followed without shooting until its very last minutes over Bulgarian territory.The final shoot-down order was given by Gen. Velitchko Georgiev, deputy commander-in-chief of Air Defense, who is quoted saying "If the plane is leaving our territory, disobeying orders, and there is no time left for more warnings, then shoot it down."