Lufthansa Flight 181
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Lufthansa Flight 181, commonly known as The Landshut (IPA: [lanzhut]) was a Lufthansa Boeing 737 that was hijacked as part of the events in the German Autumn of 1977. It was closely connected to the kidnapping of Hanns-Martin Schleyer, then president of the German employers' association, in Cologne, by the Red Army Faction (RAF) terrorist group. The aircraft was stormed by the GSG 9 with support from the SAS in Mogadishu, and resulted in no casualties from the remaining hostages aboard. The rescue operation was codenamed Magic Fire.
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[edit] Initial events
On October 13, 1977, Lufthansa flight LH181, flying from Palma de Mallorca to Frankfurt with 91 passengers and crew, was hijacked by four PFLP terrorists belonging to "Commando Martyr Halime". Their leader was Zohair Youssif Akache, alias Captain Martyr Mahmud.
The aircraft changed course and landed in Rome for refueling. Just like the kidnappers of Hanns-Martin Schleyer, Mahmud demanded the release of eleven RAF terrorists detained at the JVA Stuttgart-Stammheim prison, and 15 million US Dollars. The Landshut continued its journey, landing in Larnaca, Bahrain and Dubai, following a series of denied landing clearances in other airports across the Arabian Peninsula. On October 15, in Dubai, Captain Jürgen Schumann was able to radio the number of hijackers onboard, which resulted in Mahmud threatening to kill him.
Flight 181 then flew to Salalah, in Oman, where it was denied landing, and changed course to Aden. As the main runway was blocked by vehicles and the plane was running low on fuel, Captain Schumann had no choice but to land on a sand strip nearby. In order to verify the condition of the landing gear following the rough landing, he was allowed to temporarily leave the plane. However, Schumann did not immediately return to the plane after the inspection, even after numerous attempts to recall him, and a threat to blow up the plane on the ground. The reasons for this prolonged absence are unclear; however, some reports indicate that Schumann notified the Yemeni authorities of the location of the Semtex explosives, and was forced to remain in the control tower [1]. Upon his return to the aircraft and after take-off, Mahmud shot Schumann in the head, in the main passenger cabin, before he had a chance to explain himself.
[edit] Operation Magic Fire
On October 17, at around 03:30 UTC, the Landshut landed in Mogadishu, Somalia, Schumann's body was thrown on the tarmac, and an ultimatum was set for the RAF prisoners to be released by 14:30 UTC. Hearing that one prisoner was released and the transfer to Mogadishu requiring several more hours, the deadline was extended to the next morning, 00:30 UTC.
A team of German GSG 9 commandos had been following the hijacked aircraft closely ever since it left Larnaca. Following political negotiations with the Somali leader Siad Barré, the GSG 9, assisted by SAS and Somali forces, stormed the airliner at 23:05 UTC (October 18 locally). The commandos gained access to the aircraft through escape hatches under the fuselage and over the wings, blowing the doors and throwing in new recently designed flash grenades supplied by the SAS.
Of the four terrorists, Zohair Youssif Akache, Riza Abbasi, and Nadia Duaibes were killed while Souhaila Andrawes survived. A GSG 9 member and a flight attendant were injured. All the remaining 86 hostages were rescued and the majority were flown to Frankfurt a few hours later [2].
[edit] Aftermath
The rescue of the hostages was followed by suicides of RAF members Andreas Baader, Gudrun Ensslin, and Jan-Carl Raspe at JVA Stuttgart-Stammheim. Hanns-Martin Schleyer, who had been kidnapped by the RAF prior to the hijacking, was killed when the RAF heard of the deaths of their comrades.
After the Landshut crisis, the German government stated that it would never again negotiate with terrorists. Helmut Schmidt, the German chancellor of the time, was widely praised for his decision to have the plane stormed.
[edit] Aircraft
The Landshut was a Boeing 737-230C (airframe 20254-230, registration D-ABCE [3]) named after the city of Landshut in Bavaria. In 1985, it was sold by Lufthansa. Today, she is in service as PT-MTB at the Brazilian carrier TAF Linhas Aéreas.
