The 70s, and 80s brought a titanic rise of common commercial air travel.

Unfortunately, it also brought the rise of aircraft crime & terrorism.

Famous high-profile cases like D.B. Cooper's heist stateside as well as many in Europe occurred throughout the 70s but they certainly weren't the first.

Back in 1968, an EL AL flight to Tel Aviv was highjacked by two members of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine, armed with a pistol and unpinned grenade. For five weeks, they held everyone on board hostage until they were exchanged for 16 convicted Arabs. That was only the beginning of the PLO's escapades...

A militant group in particular, "Black September", was a militant faction in the PLO that would carry out a high-profile assassination and perpetrate the Munich Massacre.

The Munich Massacre

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The Olympics In Germany

Out With The Old...

4 Years after the '68 hijacking, the 1972 Summer Olympics was set to take place in Munich, Germany.

Germany wanted it to be quite the opposite of the Berlin Olympics of '36, one which had been heavily decorated with Nazi Propoganda per Der Fuhrer's wishes.

All was well for the first couple weeks, with spirits high and memories of reichsolympiade behind them, until an incident the night of September 5th.

The Killings

Black September Strikes

Eight members of Black September infiltrated the Olympic village and killed two members of the Israeli Olympic team, then took 9 members hostage.

The crisis was to be handled by West German Polizei, rather than a military response team, because West Germany's constitution wouldn't allow armed forces on German soil during peacetime.

Caught Flat Footed

The Polizei Problem

Due to lack of training for a hostage crisis, the Bavarian Polizei made plans for ambushes and rescue attempts that would fail again and again.

Ultimately, it led to the death of all the israeli hostages, five of eight Black September members, and even a West German Polizei Officer. All as the eyes of the world were upon them.

A PR Disaster

Counter-Terror Critique

This incident gained the nickname globally as "The Munich Massacre" - to this day, it completely overshadows the olympics that had taken place.

The mishandling at every step sparked a lot of criticism towards west Germany, and it was immediately clear that something had to change.

Birth of the GSG 9

Only three weeks after the Munich Massacre, West Germany formed one of Europe's first counter-terror units, the GSG 9.

It fell under the umbrella of the Federal Border Guard as a direct response to what happened at Munich. The sole goal: being to respond to any and all terror threats or high-risk law enforcement operations.

Units would train over a ten month period in marksmanship, CQB techniques, climbing, rappelling, land navigation, and medical training. On top of that, they even received training in operational diving, maritime operations, Surveilance, and EOD training.

Pretty much every dotted "i" and crossed "t" to make them worthy of special forces status, and they even trained alongside the KSK.

A Textbook Takedown: Flight One Eight One

The GSG 9's big break: a hostage rescue operation that succeeded with flying colors

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The German Autumn

Not-So-"Luft"-Hansa

Flight 181 bound for Frankfurt was hijacked mid-flight by four members of the PLO on October 13th 1977.

This particular period of time was rifer with acts of terrorism from the "Red Army Faction" than Germany had ever seen.

A letter was sent to the Federal Chancellor of Germany with demands to release Red Army Faction members from West German prisons, release PFLP comrades from prison in Istanbul, and $15 Million in cash.

Their Time To Shine

The GSG 9 Gears Up

While the flight itself didn't take place within national borders, it was still West Germany's problem to deal with.

The GSG 9 had 5 years of experience as a unit under their belt since the catastrophic Munich Massacre, developing a reputation of being reliable under pressure.

The choice couldn't be clearer — they were just the men that could handle the hostage crisis.

Waiting To Pounce

Terrorists At Large

The passengers and flight crew of flight 181 were trapped on board of the plane for 5 days, with the plane landing a handful of times to refuel and perform maintenance.

GSG 9 had been following the airliner's movement throughout the crisis, and when it stopped in Mogadishu, it was their time to strike...

Somalia greenlit the team to do a rescue operation, and the Somalian military even assisted by creating a diversion.

Breach & Clear

Discombobulation

GSG9 sniper and observation commandos took watch as Somali soldiers set off a large explosion towards the cockpit of the plane and 6 assault teams prepared for entry beneath.

The diversion worked, pulling two of the four terrorists to the cockpit to see what was going on outside the plane.

Assault teams simultaneously breached through all 5 aircraft doors. 2 SAS operators accompanying the GSG9 threw flashbangs in front of the plane to further distract the terrorists.

Clean House

Strike & Extract

The team that breached the aft doors began the first evacuation of passengers from the plane, and two assault teams near the front of the plane engaged the terrorists.

A two-minute-long firefight broke out, resulting in all but one of the terrorists being killed.

The operation was a success, with everyone evacuated and the terrorist threat neutralized.

As Clean as it Gets

Three passengers, a flight attendant, and one GSG9 member were wounded during the assault, but other than the 3 terrorists, there were no fatalities in the rescue operation.

This five-day hostage crisis was ended in around 7 minutes — and permanently cemented the GSG9 as one of the finest counter-terror teams in the world.

Nobody could forget about what happened in Munich just a few years earlier, but it's hard to deny that Germany had a solution moving forward...