Lufthansa Flight 615
A Lufthansa Boeing 727-100, similar to the aircraft involved in the hijacking of Flight 615
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| Hijacking summary | |
|---|---|
| Date | 29 October 1972 |
| Summary | Hijacking |
| Site | |
| Passengers | 13 (including 2 hijackers) |
| Crew | 7 |
| Fatalities | none |
| Survivors | 20 (all) |
| Aircraft type | Boeing 727-100 |
| Aircraft name | Kiel |
| Operator | Lufthansa |
| Registration | D-ABIG |
| Flight origin | Damascus Airport |
| Stopover | Beirut International Airport |
| 2nd stopover | Esenboğa International Airport |
| 3rd stopover | Munich-Riem Airport |
| Destination | Frankfurt Airport |
The hijacking of Lufthansa Flight 615 was an act of terrorism committed by a Palestinian group that occurred on 29 October 1972 and aimed at the liberation of the three surviving perpetrators of the Munich massacre from a West German prison.
When the Lufthansa airplane was seized by sympathisers of Black September during the Beirut-Ankara part of a multi-stopover flight from Damascus to Frankfurt, the West German authorities complied with the demand of having the prisoners released. They were handed over at Zagreb Airport, and the hijacked aircraft was flown to Tripoli, where all hostages were released. The liberated Munich attackers were granted asylum by Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi.
For its actions, the West German government was criticised by Israel and other parties, in some cases combined with allegations that the hijacking had been staged or at least tolerated with theories of a secret agreement between the German government and Black September- release of the surviving terrorists in exchange for assurances of no further attacks on Germany.
On 5 September 1972, during the Munich Summer Olympics, eight fighters of the Palestinian group Black September took hostage eleven members of the Israeli Olympic team. Eventually, all hostages were killed, either in the initial assault or during a shoot-out following a failed police rescue attempt at Fürstenfeldbruck Air Base. Three perpetrators (Adnan Al-Gashey, Jamal Al-Gashey, and Mohammed Safady) survived and were subsequently arrested and held in pre-trial custody.
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