The Hijacking of Lufthansa Flight 181

On 13 October 1977, Lufthansa Flight 181, heading from Majorca in Spain to Frankfurt, West Germany was hijacked by four militants from the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine, or PFLP. In response to the hijacking, the West German government dispatched GSG-9, Grenzschutzgruppe 9 or Border Guard Group 9 in English, which was created following the tragedy at the 1972 Munich Olympics. The Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine was a Marxist organization and an offshoot of the better-known Palestinian Liberation Organization. The PFLP was also connected to the Red Army Faction, a far-left militant group which had launched kidnappings and guerilla attacks in West Germany. The hijackers of Flight 181 are led by Zohair Akache, who went by the pseudonym Captain Martyr Mahmoud. Once they take control of the aircraft, the militants demand the release of Red Army Faction members held in West Germany. The hijacked aircraft first flew to Rome and then Larnaca Airport in Cyprus followed by a refueling stop in Bahrain. The aircraft was next flown to Dubai in the United Arab Emirates on October 15. The aircraft carrying the GSG-9 team has been following along and arrives in Dubai…