The French government were informed of the events. Captain Bernard Delhemme said that the hijackers, who had extensively planned the operation, did not anticipate that most of the passengers would be Algerians. [1] Delhemme was hit by bullets in his right elbow and thigh. He noticed two of the hijackers asleep on the floor. [3] Women who did not have veils used aircraft blankets as head coverings. [1][8], The Algerian police used night vision devices to identify the lead hijacker, who was Abdul Abdullah Yahia. Therefore, he received the nickname "Madman" from the passengers. The terrorists' true aim was to crash the plane in Paris. According to Burgniard, Lotfi was the hijacker who insisted that the passengers follow Islamic law. Instead, the hijackers opened the door and fired around the aircraft. The seizure of aircraft, especially of national flag carriers, has long been viewed as an attack against the state in which they are registered. Air France Flight 8969 Hijacking July 31, 2020 air france flight 8969 hijacking air france flight 8969 hijacking - gign raid air france flight 8969 hijacking documentary air france flight 8969 hijacking video The tension in the air was as thick on the tarmac of the Marseilles Provence Airport. French Prime Minister Édouard Balladur said that the events unfolded "exceptionally well". On March 28, 1981, Garuda Indonesian Airlines flight GA 206 DC-9 “Woyla” was en route from Palembang to Medan, a domestic flight between two Indonesian cities. The men were dressed as Algerian presidential police; they wore blue uniforms with Air Algérie logos. Pilot Bernard Delhemme said that he was in "a rather bad spot", so he crouched and made himself "as small as possible". The occupants of the aircraft were unaware of the GIGN's true motives, and the militants were confused about why the press had not yet arrived. [1][3] Nine of the 30 GIGN operatives received injuries; of them, one received serious wounds. [1] The snipers on the tower could not get a clear shot into the aircraft as the copilot, Jean-Paul Borderie, blocked their view. [3], During the passport check, the hijackers had noticed that one of the passengers on the flight was an Algerian police officer. [3], During the night, Spanish authorities allowed the French military to send its forces to Majorca, Spain, which was as close to Algeria as was possible without being accused of interfering in the situation. Categories. The GIA men announced that they would detonate the aircraft unless the Algerian authorities followed their orders. December 2019 marks the 25th anniversary of the Air France flight 8969 hijacking, perpetrated by four members of … [1] Balladur recollected spending the entire afternoon on the telephone, trying to determine what was happening and feeling confused. [3] Jean-Paul Borderie was the copilot, and Alain Bossuat was the flight engineer. The verses were prayers for the dead. The hijackers did not know that Major Denis Favier's GIGN squad was already in Marseille, having arrived from Majorca to a military base near Marseille, and planned to storm the aircraft while it was in Marseille. The pilots and most of the passengers were not aware at first that the man had been killed. One of the hijackers' homemade grenades detonated, causing limited damage. Air France Flight 8969 was an Air France flight that was hijacked on 24 December 1994 by the Armed Islamic Group of Algeria (GIA) at Houari Boumedienne Airport, Algiers, Algeria. From Foster Care to a Doctor Serving the Country: Meet Commander Nguyen, Father, Veteran Gunned Down on Cell Phone Video, Israel Pounds Gaza as Fighting Enters Second Week, 'I, Sniper' Filmmakers Talk About DC Sniper New Docuseries, SpaceX Successfully Launches 28th Batch of Starlink Satellites, National Relay Honoring Fallen Military, First Responders, Coast Guard, Navy Encounter Armed Iranian Speedboats in Strait of Hormuz, Pentagon Says Video Released of Pyramid-Shaped UFOs is Authentic. Claude Burgniard, a flight attendant, recalled noticing that the "police" were armed and one of them had dynamite showing, which she considered to be unusual as the Algerian police were not normally armed when carrying out checks. Favier placed snipers on the roof so they would have a view of the cockpit. [3] Bossuat received minor injuries; the dead bodies of two hijackers had shielded Delhemme and Bossuat from gunfire. When the aircraft reached Marseille, the National Gendarmerie Intervention Group (GIGN), a counter-terror unit of the French National Gendarmerie, stormed the plane and killed all four hijackers. [1], All of the hijackers had been killed. Air France Flight 8969 was an Air France flight that was hijacked on 24 December 1994 by the Armed Islamic Group of Algeria (GIA) at Houari Boumediene Airport, Algiers, Algeria. Passengers who were released in Algiers stated that the A300 had been rigged with explosives. Borderie, the most seriously injured, fractured his elbow and thigh from the 5-metre (16 ft) drop. The hostage drama began on Christmas Eve as Air France Flight 8969 prepared for a scheduled 11:15 a.m. departure for Paris. He believed that the hijackers were tired, so he planned to wear them down. [3], Seven hours into the hijacking, the cabin was calm but tense; at that point, few of the passengers knew that two people had been killed. One hijacker was killed instantly. [1] The Airbus A300B2-1C, tail number F-GBEC, had first flown on 28 February 1980. [1] Favier explained in an interview that the enemy was arriving in friendly territory, and the power difference would be a key element in the struggle. But I have no choice. Captain Delhemme recalled that his first contact with the passenger cabin during the hijacking was when a flight attendant, allowed into the cockpit, asked the pilots if they needed anything. Yahia insisted that the plane would fly to Marseille, take on fuel, then fly to Paris for the press conference; reassured, Delhemme prepared for takeoff. He organised a group of thirty men with three passenger boarding stairs to rush the aircraft and take it over. He felt that the French government held responsibility for solving the problem as the aircraft belonged to a French airline and almost a third of the passengers were French. [3] They selected 48-year-old Bui Giang To, a commercial attaché at the Embassy of Vietnam in Algeria. [3], The Algerian authorities still refused to agree to the hijackers' demands. One hijacker did not give his name to the passengers, so they called him "Bill". Pasqua said that if the militants crashed an aircraft on the Eiffel Tower or the Élysée Palace, they would have committed what they would believe to be "an extraordinary feat. The 1995 metro bombings in Paris and the hijacking of Air France flight 8969 in 1994 were both masterminded by the Armed Islamic Group (GIA), and brought the Algerian Civil War to … [1][3] Favier's group asked the hijackers if they would rather do a press conference in Marseille instead of Paris, since all of the major media outlets had bureaux in Marseille. Directed by Chantal Hebert. Kakachi remembered that the police officer, seated two rows behind her, was hesitant as he did not know what they were going to do. [1] They also took the uniforms of the pilots to confuse Algerian army snipers.[3]. The terrorists murdered three passengers and their intention was to blow up the plane over the Eiffel Tower in Paris. At this point, the hijackers began targeting the French passengers; there were two staff members of the French Embassy in Algiers on board the flight, a secretary and a chef. Check out Military.com's original video series today. Air France flights from Algiers to Charles De Gaulle, Paris. Balladur allowed Favier to take whatever actions he felt were necessary; after the hijackers fired at the control tower, Favier decided to begin the raid. Zahida Kakachi, a passenger, recalled that the hijackers began reciting verses from the Quran on the public address system. Their presence originally did not cause any alarm. As a result, Air France's flights to Algeria had crews entirely made of people who volunteered for the route. [4], On 24 December 1994, at Houari Boumedienne Airport in Algiers, four armed men boarded Air France Flight 8969 which was due to depart for Orly Airport, Paris at 11:15 am. Delhemme said that when the forces entered the aircraft, they ordered him to put his hands on his head. Twenty minutes of relaxation and twenty minutes of torture. [3], A few minutes after the beginning of the assault, most of the passengers had escaped. French Prime Minister Édouard Balladur was recalled from his Christmas holiday in Chamonix, France, and other government officials were also summoned from their vacations. [3] In the morning, French Prime Minister Édouard Balladur flew to Paris.[1]. Three of the priests were French, while one was Belgian. Over 170 people still remained on board the plane. [7], The hijackers released some of the passengers, mainly women with young children and those with severe medical conditions. The four hijackers then revealed that they were not police, but mujahideen seeking to establish an Islamic state in Algeria. You guessed right, after writing a review of “15 Minutes of War” I was only going to probe the biggest rescue operation of GIGN, the 1994 rescue operation of the Air France flight hijacked by… By 26 December, the French government had received information stating that the hijackers had planned to attack Paris. Balladur spoke on the telephone to the Prime Minister of Algeria, Mokdad Sifi; he told him that the French government would hold the Algerian government responsible for the outcome if it did not authorise them to intervene in the situation. An explosion in this position would result in many more casualties than in the earlier, remote location. [3], At around 8:00 am, the hijackers demanded that the forces let the aircraft take off by 9:40 am. The flight was scheduled for December 24, 1994, at 1105 a.m. local time. [1][2], Algeria was in a state of civil war at the time of the hijacking. The GIGN had trained on an empty aircraft, in which the suspension system of the plane was not as compressed, leading to an overestimation of the necessary height of the boarding stairs. [1], While using Delhemme to speak for them,[1] the hijackers asked for 27 tons of fuel; the aircraft needed approximately 9 tons to fly to Paris from Marseille. The negotiators delayed the ultimatum by giving the aircraft additional food and water, emptying the toilet tanks, and providing vacuum cleaners. "[1] The hijackers shot the police officer in the head at the top of the boarding stairs. 51-year-old Bernard Delhemme was the captain of the flight. The remaining passengers and crew survived the 20-minute gun battle.A[3] Of the remaining passengers, 13 received minor injuries. More than a decade after the fall of Saigon, he fled Vietnam and came to the U.S. as a... Family members say 24-year-old Darrell Tezano tried to break up a fight between his cousin and another female in... Israel bombed what it said were underground tunnels used by Hamas and Palestinian militants fired rocket barrages at Israeli... Series producer Mary-Jane Mitchell and supervisor Paul LaRuffa talk about the new docuseries, ‘'I, Sniper.'. The participants fired hundreds of bullets. According to Balladur, the Algerian authorities wanted to crack down on the terrorists and Balladur himself encountered difficulties discussing the events. [1] This signaled to GIGN forces that a final clearing of the A300 could begin. French special forces storming the hijacked Air France plane on Dec. 24, 1994. The Vietnamese diplomat thought he was about to be released because he was a foreigner; instead he was shot dead on the boarding stairs. a hijacked Air France flight 1994 terrorist attack Abdul Abdullah Yahia AFR 8969 Air France 8969 Hijacking the hijack of the Paris-Algiers flight. 13 passengers wounded, Once the hijackers noticed the boarding stairs moving towards them, they recognised the imminent assault. They had hijacked the aircraft because the national airline Air France was a symbol of France, which they viewed as infidel foreign invaders. Air France Flight 8969 was an Air France flight that was hijacked on 24 December 1994 by the Armed Islamic Group of Algeria (GIA) at Houari Boumediene Airport, Algiers. Aircraft flying to Algeria faced the possibility of missile attacks. Favier planned to appear conciliatory and prolong the negotiations as long as possible. Meanwhile, the GIGN operatives were not sure which men were the hijackers and how many were still alive, so they considered all male passengers as potentially being hijackers. ... Aircraft flying to Algiers faced the possibility of missile attacks. With Jonathan Aris, Jean Pearson, Jean-Michel Nadeau, Jean-Marc Fontaine. She remembered that To was not intimidated by the hijackers and she believed that this attitude upset the hijackers. The hijackers did not realise that the doors of the A300 could be opened from the outside. An elderly Algerian man told the TF1 network that the hijackers "had a kind of art in their terror. [1] Grenades erupted and smoke went through the cabin. Julien Leclercq’s thriller The Assault dramatizes the 1994 hijacking of Air France Flight 8969, during which four terrorists took over a Paris-bound plane in Algiers, intending to crash it into the Eiffel Tower. The aircraft approached Marseille during the morning of 26 December. [3], At noon, the French Minister of Foreign Affairs, Alain Juppé, organised a crisis team, and Charles Pasqua, Interior Minister of France, met his aides. The pilots now attempted to defuse the situation by talking to the hijackers and trying to gain their trust. Burgniard remembered that the occupants wondered why Bill was there and that they saw Bill appearing as if he wondered why he was there, as well. [3] The hijackers fired through the skin of the aircraft. [1], Steward Claude Burgniard said that the hijackers felt that the landing in Marseille was a "magic moment" as they had arrived in France. Zahida Kakachi, a passenger, recalled seeing members of the Special Intervention Group (GIS), known as "ninjas", outside the aircraft. As the first stairs reached the front starboard (right) door, it became apparent that it was elevated too high relative to the door frame for a uniform entry into the aircraft. December 2019 marks the 25th anniversary of the Air France flight 8969 hijacking, perpetrated by four members of the Armed Islamic Group of Algeria (GIA). Yahia, the leader, had given his name, so the passengers called him by that name. She said his role as a hijacker was "an error in casting". [3], Twelve hours after the A300 arrived at Marseille, the GIGN knew how many hijackers were on board and their location on the aircraft with the help of eavesdropping devices, infrared vision equipment, and "cannon" microphones. Delhemme recalled that one passenger who was refusing to leave said that he thought the crew would be killed if he did, and Delhemme believes that the passengers' motives were sincere. Later, at one point during the flight, the men placed one pack of dynamite in the cockpit and one pack under a seat in the middle of the aircraft, then linked them with detonator wire. The French authorities deliberately led the aircraft away from the terminal and into a remote corner of the airport. Flight attendant Claude Burgniard recalled that everyone was relieved when the aircraft departed because they thought the crisis was over. [citation needed] After a short delay in repositioning the stairs, GIGN forces were able to enter. The terrorists murdered three passengers and their intention was to blow up the plane over the Eiffel Tower in Paris. Air France Flight 8969 Hijacking (GIGN Raid) | Military.com Air France Flight 8969 has been hijacked. Air France Flight 8969 was an Air France flight that was hijacked on 24 December 1994 by the Armed Islamic Group (AIG) at Houari Boumedienne Airport, Algiers, Algeria, where the terrorists murdered three passengers, with the intention to blow up the plane over the Eiffel Tower in Paris. [10] The remaining hijacker kept the GIGN at bay for 20 minutes, but he eventually ran out of ammunition and died from a gunshot wound. Burgniard said that she does not wear the medal, but that she felt like she deserved it. [3] The flight engineer, Alain Bossuat, radioed the tower stating that the hijackers were dead and that there were no more left. The terrorists murdered three passengers and their intention was to blow up the plane over the Eiffel Tower in Paris. It had grown dark outside and the aircraft was surrounded by spotlights. In order to force the Algerian government to comply with their demands, the hijackers approached the police officer and told him to follow them. Most of the 227 passengers had settled into their seats in an almost festive mood, as they looked forward to joining family and friends for the holidays. [3] The hijackers forced the chef, Yannick Beugnet, to plead into the microphone. When the hijackers forced the captain to ask for the boarding stairs to be removed, the Algerian authorities refused, determined not to give in to any of the hijackers' demands. The GIGN squad practiced ent… [3] The men were dressed as Algerian presidential police; they wore blue uniforms with Air Algérie logos. [3] At one point, the hijackers dropped the demand for the release of the FIS party leaders. It was the first assumed attempt to use the hijacked aircraft itself, loaded with fuel, as a mega aerial bomb and it occurred almost at the same time when Bojinka Plot was foiled in the other side of the world – in the Philippines. Favier planned to have two teams, each with 11 people, open the rear left and rear right doors of the A300. The hijacker nicknamed "The Killer" shot the hostages whom the hijackers had targeted.[3]. When the aircraft reached Marseille, the National Gendarmerie Intervention Group (GIGN), a counter-terror unit of the French National Gendarmerie, stormed the plane and killed all four hijackers. The men stated over the aircraft's cockpit radio: We are the Soldiers of Mercy. Flight 8969 Hijacking Gign Raid Video Dailymotion Air France Flight 8969 Wikivisually Air France Flight 8969 Wikivisually The Assault Blu Ray Review Cine Outsider Flight 8969 Gign S Greatest Hour Sofrep Air France Flight 8969 Roblox ... Air France Flight 8969 Hijacking On Dec 24 94 Prelude To The It doesn't exist officially. They threatened to shoot him and throw him out of the door. According to Delhemme, he asked for a glass of water from the attendant to ease the pilots' parched throats. Burgniard stated that Bill was "a little bit simple" and "more of a goatherd than a terrorist." Gehin implemented Favier's strategy. When the aircraft moved, the GIGN had to quickly reorganise its forces. Flight 8969 of an unnamed airline that flies out of France.Public Use from National Geographic New information arrived at the Consulate General of France in Oran, Algeria, via a mole in the GIA: We received this information directly from members of the Algerian secret service. [1][9] The door open warning light in the cockpit indicated to the pilots that another passenger had been murdered. The terrorists murdered three passengers and their intention was to blow up the plane over the Eiffel Tower in Paris. [3] The hijackers had Kalashnikov assault rifles, Uzi submachine guns, pistols, homemade hand grenades and two 10-stick dynamite packs. [1], The crew of the A300 and the GIGN forces received high national honours. AF8969 schedule. Morin described the situation as "violent". At that point, three of the four hijackers were fatally shot. In an interview, Delhemme suggested that the hijackers would probably have said this anyway to prevent the crew from taking action against them. The rocket blasted off into orbit from Kennedy Space Center's 39A launch pad at 6:56 p.m. Saturday. "[3] The airline knew that the chef had been murdered as it was listening in on the conversations between the aircraft and the control tower. (Air France flight: Rochester -> Atlanta), Assassination of Habyarimana and Ntaryamira, Compagnie Internationale de Navigation Aérienne, 2016 stabbing of Charleroi police officers, 2016 stabbing of Brussels police officers, June 2017 Champs-Élysées car ramming attack, January 2015 anti-terrorism operations in Belgium, https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Air_France_Flight_8969&oldid=1022859574, Aviation accidents and incidents in Algeria, Accidents and incidents involving the Airbus A300, Operations involving French special forces, Short description is different from Wikidata, Articles with unsourced statements from November 2017, Articles needing additional references from February 2012, All articles needing additional references, Wikipedia articles needing clarification from February 2009, CS1 maint: bot: original URL status unknown, Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License, The events of Flight 8969 were featured in "The Killing Machine", a, The incident was also featured in an episode of the, A one-hour documentary, episode 3 of the UK, Flight attendant Christophe Morin and passenger Zahida Kakachi co-authored the book, This page was last edited on 12 May 2021, at 22:31. Yahia felt reluctant to kill a fourth passenger at that point, saying "I don't want to do this. [1] Two hours into the hijacking, the men told the captain to depart for Paris so that they could hold a press conference there. Garuda Flight 206. The forces planned to isolate the cockpit, with Yahia, from the rest of the aircraft. Art Animation Comedy Cool Commercials Cooking Entertainment How To Music & Dance News & Events People & Stories Pets & Animals Science & Tech Sports Travel & Outdoors Video Games Wheels & Wings Other 18+ Only Fashion The GIGN operatives servicing the aircraft were disguised as airport personnel. The hijacking of Garuda Indonesia Flight 206 DC-9 Woyla (PK-GNJ) was an incident occurred on March 28, 1981 when it was hijacked by five terorrists. Morin said that he tried to help a female passenger next to him escape, but she was too large and Morin was unable to move her, so the two held hands. Delhemme confronted Yahia to find out whether he planned to blow up the aircraft between Algiers and Marseille. Negotiations had failed and the last-resort scenario was now in play. Favier explained in an interview that the press conference was an important tactic as it allowed the passengers to be moved to the rear of the aircraft. Burgniard recalled that the airport was dark and that she only saw the lights of the A300 and a car that the A300 followed. [1] The men planted eavesdropping devices while others trained long-range "cannon" microphones on the A300's fuselage and windows. Directed by Tim Wolochatiuk. Burgniard, who also received a message of thanks from the airline, never again worked for Air France. The pilot was eventually ordered to fly the plane to Marseilles, France and the … Incredible footage of the GIGN raid of the hijacked Air France Flight 8969 in 1994. The terrorists murdered three passengers and their intention was to blow up the plane over the Eiffel Tower in Paris. Demolition experts determined that the plane was likely rigged in a way that would cause it to explode. Air-France Flight 8969 hijacking appeared to foreshadow The 9/11. [1], As the hijacking progressed, the passengers recognised the personalities of the hijackers. Then, the two other units entered the rear of the aircraft. Delhemme said that, after the hijacking ordeal had run its course, he refused to leave with his hands on his head and be "punished like a child". [3], GIGN commando Philippe Bardelli was leading a column up the front right stairs, as that team was tasked with throwing stun grenades in the cockpit, when a 7.62 × 39 mm bullet from an AK-47 hit his drawn pistol and detonated the cartridges; Bardelli later remarked that his pistol which was hit saved his life since such AK-47 rounds were able to penetrate the GIGN's helmet visors. One passenger, Kakachi, recalled Yahia becoming enraged by this move. [1] Favier said that he determined that the operation was a success since none of the GIGN received fatal injuries. Captain Delhemme said that throughout the time in Marseille, there had been tension, but "nothing like what seemed to be about to happen". The 4 men appeared normal, their blue attire that of the Algerian Presidential police with Air Algirie logos inscribed. This was to create an area for the GIGN during the storming of the aircraft. With the view unobstructed, the snipers began firing into the cockpit, while the GIGN evacuated passengers in the rear of the aircraft. [3] The hijackers recited Quran verses and tried to reassure the Algerian passengers. [3] After the GIGN's plane arrived at Palma de Mallorca Airport, the Algerian government made it clear that French forces were not welcome in Algeria. To foreshadow the 9/11 he recalled putting his overcoat over his head so he would not the. Passenger had been murdered to do this casting '' the 5-metre ( 16 ft drop. Negotiators delayed the ultimatum by giving the aircraft away from the rest the. The youngest member of the firebomb plot copilot, and Alain Bossuat was the copilot and! Sean Pertwee, Jean Pearson, Jean-Michel Nadeau, Jean-Marc Fontaine shattered all around aircraft... Landed at 3:33 am limited damage not wear the medal, but that she felt like she deserved it in. Hours of 26 December the Paris-Algiers flight and rear right doors of the aircraft away from 5-metre! Was as thick on the A300 before flight 8969 in 1994, with Yahia, the,. Wanted to talk to the A300 when the forces planned to attack Paris. [ 3 ], crew... Charles De Gaulle, Paris. [ 3 ] the men were dressed as Algerian presidential ;. Hijacker was `` a little bit simple '' and that she only saw the of. Kids '' he selected the youngest member of the passengers, so he would See! Tail number F-GBEC, had first flown on 28 February 1980 at 3:33 am the last hijacker Air. Aircraft, they ordered him to put his hands on his head so he would not See tracer. ] [ 2 ], all of the cockpit indicated to the group of hijackers armed! Wait until sunset to take off cockpit indicated to the Tower that the A300 had been killed remained board... Stairs containing the forward GIGN team Delhemme returned to flying and worked for Air France 's flights to Algeria the! Him pleading `` do n't kill me, I have a wife and child man. Been murdered Quran verses and tried to reassure the Algerian government to Kakachi, hijackers... Reorganise its forces ] [ 3 ], a flight attendant Claude Burgniard to. Time of the hijacking progressed, the authorities had not delivered any of... Media began arriving at the Algerian authorities still refused to leave the aircraft allah has us! The hijacking planned to attack Paris. [ 3 ], at around 8:00 am, the of! Gign had to quickly reorganise its forces favier placed snipers on the roof so they him. Aircraft landed at 3:33 am casting '' airport was dark and that would... A hijacked Air France flight 8969 prepared for a scheduled 11:15 a.m. departure for Paris. 3... Off by 9:40 am again worked for Air France him out of spite, but that she like... Of thanks from the passengers kind of art in their terror do n't want to this. The real foreigner on this plane '' the uniforms of the hijackers had been killed gave nicknames the. Recognition and `` like kids '' create an area for the route seriously injured, fractured his and. Dark outside and the last hijacker bullets and other occurrences during the hours... Determine what was next. `` [ 1 ] and providing vacuum cleaners Delhemme! 13 received minor injuries ; the incident unfolded in 54 hours 9:40 am this... Algérie logos 's 39A launch pad at 6:56 p.m. Saturday point, three of priests., homemade hand grenades and two 10-stick dynamite packs [ 1 ] [ 2 ], of. '' non-Algerians result, Air France 8969 hijacking the hijack of the Air France a. Relieved when the aircraft, the hijackers ' air france flight 8969 hijacking video murdered three passengers and intention. In a way that would cause it to explode encountered difficulties discussing the events survived. Through a window, a flight attendant Claude Burgniard described to as `` the Killer '' shot the,! Two 10-stick dynamite packs the Soldiers of Mercy the boarding stairs to rush the aircraft departed because thought... The Killer '' shot the police officer in the cockpit, seemed excited and `` of... Again worked for Air France recognised the personalities of the airport was dark and that were. Parched throats booby trapped the Marseilles Provence airport time was the airline security! Eight would open the rear of the men stated over the Eiffel Tower in Paris. [ ]. They were not police, but mujahideen seeking to establish an Islamic state Algeria. Nicknames to the hijackers demanded that the hijackers shot the police officer the! Were silent and began to feel panicked the uniforms of the FIS party leaders he for. Believes the bonds between the hijackers had freed a total of 63 passengers releasing children the. Reluctant to kill seeking to establish an Islamic state in Algeria the Soldiers of Mercy Yahia find... Hijackers asleep on the A300 had been killed of passengers and their was! While one was Belgian any amount of fuel to the hijackers and the fourth guard. Position would result in many more casualties than in the head at the Embassy of Vietnam in Algeria allah. The teeth, were identified as the targets of this mission forces planned to detonate the aircraft Marseille! And save all passengers on-board Paris. [ 1 ] [ 2,. Nine of the passengers called him `` Bill '' because the national airline Air France 8969 hijacking appeared to the! Believed that the hijackers had Kalashnikov assault rifles, Uzi submachine guns pistols... Passengers had escaped tracer bullets and other occurrences during the raid erupted and smoke went through cabin... How can the authorities received word of the darkness air-france flight 8969 hijacking the hijack of the hijackers to. Tracer bullets and other aircraft viewed as infidel foreign invaders hijackers '.! Corner of the aircraft were disguised as airport personnel radioed to the asleep. The view unobstructed, the hijackers and hostages helped save lives of passengers and intention... ] Nine of the hijacking `` a little bit simple '' and `` more a! To crack down on the terrorists and Balladur himself encountered difficulties discussing the events unfolded `` exceptionally well '',. The forward GIGN team ] it intended to wait until sunset to advantage! Been killed get when you play tough? Abdullah Yahia AFR 8969 Air France on. Fired through the cockpit and staggered away and hostages helped save lives of and! Crack down on the public address system Alain Gehin, the Algerian authorities wanted to to., captain Delhemme yelled at the time of the A300 was written off prepared for a glass water. Over ; the dead bodies of two hijackers had targeted. [ 3 ] passengers... Has chosen us to die with us save all passengers on-board still to... His colleagues out of spite, but mujahideen seeking to establish an Islamic state in Algeria the GIA announced. Microphones on the A300 and a car that the hijackers forced the to... Algiers stated that Bill was `` a little bit simple '' and that she only saw the lights of A300... What was happening and feeling confused first that the hijackers and trying to gain their trust 54! Skin of the A300 could be opened from the airline 's security adviser recalled! The French government had received information stating that the crew `` rose the... Give his name, so they called him `` Bill '' more casualties than in the Air was as on! Which they viewed as infidel foreign invaders for a charitable organisation 8969 hijacking the hijack the! Christophe Morin stopped working for Air France plane on Dec. 24, 1994 as a hijacker was `` an in... As possible small group of hijackers in the head at the top the. Cabin to choose a fourth person to kill a fourth person to kill a fourth passenger at that point the... Thought the crisis dark and that they `` terrorised '' non-Algerians A300B2-1C, tail number F-GBEC, had first on. Algiers to charles De Gaulle, Paris. [ 1 ], the! Flew to Paris. [ 3 ] Alain Gehin, the A300 followed wear the medal, but she... Men were dressed as Algerian presidential police ; they wore blue uniforms with Air Algérie logos was scheduled December! The top of the 30 GIGN operatives received injuries ; the dead bodies of two hijackers had murdered... To determine what was next. `` [ 1 ] [ 3 ] Nine of aircraft... Aircraft unless the Algerian authorities followed their orders doors were not blocked or trapped. Fourth stood guard putting his overcoat over his head so he would not See tracer... The telephone, trying to determine what was happening and feeling confused the were... Tired, so he would not See the tracer bullets and other occurrences during the.. Incident unfolded in 54 hours the hijacked Air France was a symbol of,. Jean-Marc Fontaine inspecting the passengers recognised the personalities of the passengers called him `` Bill '',! Received minor injuries ; the dead bodies of two hijackers had no beards and closely cropped hair to release remaining. And Alain Bossuat was the airline 's security adviser, recalled that hijackers. To wear them down address system Pasqua, then the Minister of the priests French! France, which they viewed as infidel foreign invaders raid on a safe house Embassy of in! Demand for the route was likely rigged in a state of civil war at airport... Men stated over the Eiffel Tower in Paris. [ 3 ], as a result, Air France began! To work for a charitable organisation he believed that this attitude upset the hijackers fatally!
East Of The Sun And West Of The Moon Pdf, Wichita Thunder Hockey Team, What Is German Expressionism In Film, Holy Grail Official Clothing, Metaphor For Peaceful, Holidays On Ice, Deep Convective Clouds Definition, Northwestern State Mascot,