Operation Magic Fire

Crouching in the dark, faces camouflaged with black paint, gripping MP5s and .38 revolvers, the commandos of the elite German counter-terrorist unit, Grenzshutzgruppe 9 (Border Protection Group 9), or GSG9 in short form. The men carefully positioned themselves around exits of the Lufthansa Boeing 737. They placed rubber-tipped ladders against the fuselage, and set magnetic charges on the exit doors of the airplane. In a few moments they would storm the aircraft, and if all went well, free all of the hostages unharmed.

Five days earlier, on October 13, 1977, around 1300 hrs., Lufthansa Flight LH181, Boeing 737 Charlie Echo lifted off the tarmac at the Palma, Majorca airport. Captain Jurgen Schumann, the pilot, set his autopilot on course for southern France, but little did he know that he and the passengers would never reach its destination. An hour into the flight, the airplane was hijacked by four Arab terrorists - two men and two women. Schumann informed air traffic control that his airplane had been hijacked and that he had been ordered to fly to Rome. Right after that, the voice of the lead terrorist, known as "Captain Mahmoud," broke in, and in broken English, demanded the release of Baader-Meinhof terrorists jailed in Germany, and also a 9 million pound ransom for the aircraft and the hostages. While in Rome, Schumann managed to drop through his cabin window four cigarette boxes, signaling the authorities that there were four terrorists on board. After several days of criss-crossing the Mediterranean, Mahmoud ordered the pilot to land at Mogadishu airport in Somalia, except now, flying the aircraft was the co-pilot, Vietor, as Mahmoud killed Schumann, accusing him of communicating with the authorities.

Almost from the start of the hijacking, a GSG9 team was placed on alert. The unit's commander, Ulrich Wegener, a counter-terrorist expert, loaded his men up on a specially outfitted 707, codenamed "Stuttgart," and had the pilot follow the hijacked airplane. The "Stuttgart," landed at Mogadishu on October 17, at 1730 hours. Wegener's first course of action was isolating the aircraft, and sending a GSG9 scout team to observe the airplane. He then set up snipers around the hijacked 737. One hour after landing, Wegener was running through the assault plan with his twenty-man GSG9 force, as well as two SAS advisers that were asked by Wegener to join the rescue.

On the airplane, time was running out for the hostages. Mahmoud was threatening to blow up the airplane if his demands weren't met. Emphasizing his point, he threw Schumann's body onto the tarmac. This was a fatal mistake. To buy precious time, negotiators had told him that 11 terrorists were being released from prison. Their bluff successfully extended Mahmoud's deadline until 0230, but it was now clear that the plane had to be stormed.

Towards midnight, a small force of GSG9 scouts crawled into the desert, some 30m from the airplane. Studying it through IR goggles they confirmed the locations of two terrorists. The assault was set in motion. The final briefing was given, weapons loaded, flashbang grenades secured. "Magic Fire" had begun. Once inside the airplane, Wegener would give the command "heads down," and anyone left standing was to be shot.

At 0100 hours, the GSG9 team, and SAS officers Major Alistair Morrison, and Sgt., Barry Davies, carrying their new flashbang grenades, slowly moved towards the aircraft. Approaching from the rear, the operators took up their positions by emergency exits. At 0207, Somali militiamen and Special Forces set a huge bonfire a hundred yards in front of the cockpit. It was meant as a diversion to bring all the terrorists into the cockpit. At 0208, the main attack went in. Wegener uttered the codeword "Zauber Feurer, (Magic Fire)," and the doors were forced open. Flashbangs were tossed in, exploding with 50,000 watt brilliance, blinding the terrorists, and giving the twenty-man assault force to enter the aircraft without problems.

One female terrorist was encountered and was immediately taken out by a .38 shot to the head. Another female terrorist ran to the back of the plane, hiding in a toilet. She was wounded by a MP5 9mm blast. She would be the only terrorist survivor. With the rear of the airplane secure, operators commenced evacuating the hostages. The battle for the cockpit still raged on. Mahmoud, wounded by several .38 shots, managed to throw two grenades into the cabin, which luckily exploded under the seats, slightly injuring several hostages and an operator. Mahmoud was killed by an MP5 burst. Wegener shot the last terrorist four times in the head, ending the operation. Five minutes after the commencement of the assault, Wegener signaled the ending of the mission with the codeword "Springtime." By 0500, the hostages and GSG9 troopers were on their way back to Germany, to receive a hero's welcome.