Lufthansa Flight 181 took off from Palma de Mallorca on the morning of October 13, 1977 on what should have been a routine flight to Frankfurt.
While passing over Marseille, the cockpit was stormed by four hijackers, calling themselves members of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine.
The Boeing 737, with 86 passengers and five crew, landed in Rome to refuel before flying to Cyprus, Bahrain and Dubai, landing on October 14. At this time, the German Red Army Faction terrorist group demanded the release of 10 members, along with two Palestinian associates, as a condition for freeing the passengers.
This image shows the aircraft on the ground in Dubai 35 years ago. Dubai authorities initially refused the aircraft permission to land, blocking the runway with lorries and a fire engine. Only when the pilot warned that he was running out of fuel were the obstacles removed.
While resupplying the aircraft, the captain, Jurgen Schumann, was able to pass on the number of hijackers and the fact that they were two men and two women, information that unfortunately became public.
The jet was also refuelled after the leader of the hijackers threatened to start shooting hostages. Plans were being made to storm the aircraft using German anti-terrorist commandos when the aircraft suddenly took off again.
It was now October 17, and events moved to their tragic conclusion. After landing at Aden, Schumann was executed with a bullet to the head. The 737 then headed to Mogadishu where, early on the morning of October 18, German and Somali forces stormed the aircraft, killing three of the hijackers. Three passengers and a flight attendant were also wounded. On learning of the failure of the hijacking, three jailed members of the Red Army Faction committed suicide.
* James Langton
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