Special Forces Storm Hijacked Lufthansa Flight 181 - Animated

TL;DR

GSG9 commandos rescued 91 hostages in 7 minutes by storming a hijacked Lufthansa 737 in Mogadishu after a 5-day ordeal across 8 countries.

Key Points

• 1.Four PFLP militants hijacked Flight 181 on October 13, 1977, smuggling two pistols, six grenades, and three pounds of plastic explosives through security in a cosmetics case and hollowed-out radio.
• 2.The hijacking was coordinated with the RAF's kidnapping of businessman Hans Martin Schleyer, with both groups demanding the release of 11 RAF prisoners from West German jails.
• 3.The aircraft zigzagged across Rome, Cyprus, Bahrain, Dubai, Aden, and finally Mogadishu as country after country refused landing clearance or sheltered the hijackers.
• 4.Militant leader Zohair Akache (alias "Captain Martyr Mahmud") executed pilot Captain Jürgen Schumann in Aden by shooting him in the head in front of passengers after growing suspicious of him.
• 5.West Germany secured Somalia's cooperation by offering foreign aid and loans, with President Siad Barre granting permission after Akache dumped Schumann's body on the airport tarmac.
• 6.30 GSG9 operators and two British SAS advisors approached the 737 from its rear blind spot at night; Somali soldiers lit a massive bonfire 1,000 yards ahead to distract the hijackers.
• 7.The assault lasted 7 minutes: three militants were killed, one wounded and captured; two improvised grenades that fell to the floor only slightly wounded a stewardess due to poor construction quality.
• 8.The operation's success crushed the RAF — three leaders killed themselves in prison upon hearing the news, and Schleyer was executed the following day; the German Autumn of 1977 marked the RAF's permanent decline.