Eugene Mallove

# Eugene Mallove

## Abstract

Eugene Franklin Mallove (June 9, 1947 – May 14, 2004) was an American scientist, science writer, editor, and publisher of Infinite Energy magazine, and founder of the nonprofit organization New Energy Foundation. He was a proponent of cold fusion, and a supporter of its research and related exploratory alternative energy topics, several of which are sometimes characterised as " fringe science ".

Mallove authored Fire from Ice, a book detailing the 1989 report of tabletop cold fusion from Stanley Pons and Martin Fleischmann at the University of Utah. Among other things, the book claims the team did produce "greater-than-unity" output energy in an experiment successfully replicated on several occasions, but that the results were suppressed through an organized campaign of ridicule from mainstream physicists, including those studying controlled thermonuclear fusion, trying to protect their research and funding.

Mallove was murdered in 2004 while cleaning out his former childhood home, which had been rented out. Three people have been arrested and charged in connection with the killing; two were convicted of first-degree manslaughter and murder; the third pleaded guilty to obstruction of justice.

## Biography

Eugene Franklin Mallove was born on June 9, 1947, to Gladys (nee' Alexander) and Mitchell Mallove. He grew up in Norwich, Connecticut and graduated from the Norwich Free Academy in 1965. From an early age, he showed great interest in science and especially astronomy. While in Boston, he met Joanne Smith, who was a student at Boston University. On September 9, 1970, Gene and Joanne married. They had two children, Kimberlyn, born in 1974, and Ethan, born in 1979.

Eugene Mallove held a BS (1969) and MS degree (1970) in aeronautical and astronautical engineering from MIT and a ScD degree (1975) in environmental health sciences from Harvard University. He had worked for technology engineering firms such as Hughes Research Laboratories, the Analytic Science Corporation, and MIT's Lincoln Laboratory, and he consulted in research and development of new energies.

In 1981, he and Gregory Matloff wrote a paper about using solar sails to reach Alpha Centauri, the nearest star to the Sun. They calculated that the trip would take several hundred years and that the ship would have to withstand accelerations of 60 g. They wrote several papers on that and other proposed methods of space travel, such as laser propulsion, the Bussard ramjet, and exotic fuels that could give very high power.

Mallove taught science journalism at MIT and Boston University and was chief science writer at MIT's news office, a position he left as part of a dispute with the school over cold fusion. Mallove resigned from MIT in 1991 because he said MIT was hiding cold fusion data, partly to protect funding for and reputation of traditional fusion research.

He was a science writer and broadcaster with the Voice of America radio service and author of three science books: The Quickening Universe: Cosmic Evolution and Human Destiny (1987, St. Martin’s Press), The Starflight Handbook: A Pioneer’s Guide to Interstellar Travel (1989, John Wiley & Sons, with co-author Gregory Matloff), and Fire from Ice: Searching for the Truth Behind the Cold Fusion Furor (1991, John Wiley & Sons). He also published articles for numerous magazines and newspapers.

Mallove was a member of the Aurora Biophysics Research Institute (ABRI), one of the founders of the International Society of the Friends of Aetherometry, a member of its Organizing Committee, a co-inventor of the HYBORAC technology and one of the main evaluators of ABRI technologies.

His alternative energy research included studying the reproduction of Wilhelm Reich 's Orgone Motor by Dr. Paulo Correa and Alexandra Correa, as well as the evolution of heat in the Reich-Einstein experiment. He was among the scientists and engineers who claimed to have confirmed the output of excess electric energy from tuned pulsed plasmas in vacuum arc discharges.

Mallove's combative stance against what he saw as the hypocrisy of mainstream science gave him a high-profile. Among other things, he was a frequent guest on the American radio program Coast to Coast AM.

In 1992, Mallove was a consultant on the ERR (Electromagnetic Radiation Receiver) project at the Noah’s Ark Research Facility in the Philippines. He is also credited as a "cold fusion technical consultant", for providing advice to the producers of the movie The Saint from 1997, with a plot revolving around cold fusion formulas.

Eugene Mallove was a notable proponent and supporter of research into cold fusion. He authored the book Fire from Ice, which details the 1989 report of table-top cold fusion from Stanley Pons and Martin Fleischmann at the University of Utah. The book claims the team did produce "greater-than-unity" output energy in an experiment that was successfully replicated on several occasions. Mallove claims that the results were suppressed through an organized campaign of ridicule from mainstream physicists.

## Death

Eugene Mallove was killed on May 14, 2004, in Norwich, Connecticut, while cleaning a recently vacated rental property owned by his parents, the home he grew up in. The nature of Mallove's work led to some conspiracy theories regarding the homicide, but police suspected robbery as the motive.

In 2005, two local men were arrested in connection with the killing. The case proceeded slowly and the charges against the two men were finally dismissed on November 6, 2008.

On February 11, 2009, the State of Connecticut announced a $50,000 reward leading to the arrest and conviction of the person or persons responsible for the murder. On April 2, 2010, the police made two arrests in connection with the murder and said that more arrests were expected. On May 22, 2011, a state prosecutor said that they were charging a third person in connection with the killing. Court testimony indicated that Mallove may have been killed by an evicted tenant who was angry about belongings being disposed of during the clearout.

On April 20, 2012, the Norwich Bulletin stated that: "An ongoing murder trial came to an abrupt halt Friday when Chad Schaffer, of Norwich, decided to accept an offer of 16 years in prison, pleading guilty to the lesser charge of first-degree manslaughter in the 2004 beating death of Eugene Mallove." Mallove had just evicted Schaffer's parents, and he was cleaning the evicted house when Schaffer arrived and confronted him.

A third individual was arraigned on November 21, 2013.

Mozelle Brown was convicted of Mallove's murder in October 2014 and on January 6, 2015, was sentenced to 58 years in prison. Schaffer's girlfriend, Candace Foster, testified against Brown and Schaffer, and pleaded guilty to a charge of hindering prosecution and tampering with evidence.

## Books


Atari

# Atari

## Abstract

Atari (/ ə ˈ t ɑːr i /) is a brand name that has been owned by several entities since its inception in 1972. It is currently owned by French holding company Atari SA (formerly Infogrames). The original Atari, Inc., founded in Sunnyvale, California, United States in 1972 by Nolan Bushnell and Ted Dabney, was a pioneer in arcade games, home video game consoles, and home computers. The company's products, such as Pong and the Atari 2600, helped define the electronic entertainment industry from the 1970s to the mid-1980s.

In 1984, as a result of the video game crash of 1983, the assets of the home console and computer divisions of the original Atari Inc. were sold off to Jack Tramiel 's Tramel Technology Ltd., which then renamed itself to Atari Corporation, while the remaining part of Atari, Inc. was renamed Atari Games Inc. In early 1985, Warner established a new corporation jointly with Namco subsequently named Atari Games Corporation, which took control of Atari's coin-operated games division. The rights to Atari, Inc.'s game properties were shared between the two companies: Atari Corporation receiving the trademarks and the home rights, while Atari Games receiving the rights to use the logo and brand name with appended text "Games" on arcade products. In 1996, Atari Corporation reverse-merged with disk-drive manufacturer JT Storage (JTS) and effectively perished. In 1998, Hasbro Interactive, part of the toy company Hasbro, acquired all Atari Corporation–related properties from JTS, as part of a subsidiary which it then renamed to Atari Interactive. Meanwhile, Atari Games was acquired by Midway Games in 1996, and effectively retired the Atari name on arcades by 2000 to avoid public confusion with Hasbro's Atari home releases.

Infogrames Entertainment (IESA) – precursor of the present-day Atari SA – became the new owner of the Atari brand after buying Hasbro Interactive in 2001, renaming it Infogrames Interactive, which intermittently published Atari-branded home titles. In 2003, it renamed the division Atari Interactive. Another IESA division called Infogrames Inc., which was founded as GT Interactive, changed its name to Atari, Inc. the same year, licensing the Atari name and logo from its fellow subsidiary. In 2008, IESA completed its acquisition of Atari, Inc.'s outstanding stock, making it a wholly owned subsidiary. IESA renamed itself Atari SA in 2009 which remains the status quo. It sought bankruptcy protection under French law in 2013. On the other hand, Atari's post-1984 arcade titles is the property of Warner Bros. Games since receiving the assets following Midway's bankruptcy in 2009.

As of 2023, the current Atari's focus is on "video games, consumer hardware, licensing and blockchain ".

## History

### Logotype

The name comes from the Japanese term atari, used while playing the ancient board game Go. The word atari means "to hit a target" in Japanese and is associated with good fortune; in Go, it indicates a situation where a player will be able to capture one or more stones of the opponent in the next move.

The Atari logo was designed by George Opperman, who was Atari's first in-house graphic designer, and drawn by Evelyn Seto. The design is known as "Fuji" for its resemblance to the Japanese mountain, although the logo's origins are unrelated to it. Opperman designed the logo intending for the silhouette to look like the letter A as in Atari and for its three "prongs" to resemble players and the midline of the "court" in the company's first hit game, Pong.

### Atari Inc. (1972–1984)

In 1971, Nolan Bushnell and Ted Dabney founded a small engineering company, Syzygy Engineering, that designed Computer Space, the world's first commercially available arcade video game, for Nutting Associates. On June 27, 1972, the two incorporated Atari, Inc. and soon hired Al Alcorn as their first design engineer. Bushnell asked Alcorn to produce an arcade version of the Magnavox Odyssey 's Tennis game, which would be named Pong. Before Atari's incorporation, Bushnell considered various terms from the game Go, eventually choosing atari, referencing a position in the game when a group of stones is imminently in danger of being taken by one's opponent. Atari was incorporated in the state of California on June 27, 1972.

In 1973, Atari secretly spawned a competitor called Kee Games, headed by Nolan's next-door neighbor Joe Keenan, to circumvent pinball distributors' insistence on exclusive distribution deals; both Atari and Kee could market nearly the same game to different distributors, each getting an "exclusive" deal. Joe Keenan's management of the subsidiary led to his appointment as president of Atari when Kee was absorbed into the company in 1974.

In 1975, Atari's Grass Valley, California subsidiary Cyan Engineering started the development of a flexible console that was capable of playing the four existing Atari games. The result was the Atari Video Computer System, or VCS (later renamed 2600 when the 5200 was released). The introductory price of $199 (equivalent to $1,066 in 2023) included a console, two joysticks, a pair of paddles, and the Combat game cartridge. Bushnell knew he had another potential hit on his hands but bringing the machine to market would be extremely expensive. Looking for outside investors, Bushnell sold Atari to Warner Communications in 1976 for $28 million. Nolan continued to have disagreements with Warner Management over the direction of the company, the discontinuation of the pinball division, and most importantly, the notion of discontinuing the 2600. In 1978, Kee Games was disbanded. In December of that year, Bushnell was fired as chairman and co-CEO following an argument with Manny Gerard. He decided to leave the company rather than take an advisory role.

The development of a successor to the 2600 started as soon as it shipped. The original team estimated the 2600 had a lifespan of about three years; it then set forth to build the most powerful machine possible within that time frame. Mid-way into their effort the home computer revolution took off, leading to the addition of a keyboard and features to produce the Atari 800 and its smaller sibling, the 400. The new machines had some success when they finally became available in quantity in 1980. From this platform Atari released their next-generation game console in 1982, the Atari 5200. It was unsuccessful due to incompatibility with the 2600 game library, a small quantity of dedicated games, and notoriously unreliable controllers. Porting arcade games to home systems with inferior hardware was difficult. The ported version of Pac-Man for Atari 2600 omitted many of the visual features of the original to compensate for the lack of ROM space and the hardware struggled when multiple ghosts appeared on the screen creating a flickering effect.

Under Warner and Atari's chairman and CEO, Raymond Kassar, the company achieved its greatest success, selling millions of 2600s and computers. At its peak, Atari accounted for a third of Warner's annual income and was the fastest-growing company in US history at the time. It ran into problems in the early 1980s. Faced with fierce competition and price wars in the game console and home computer markets, Atari was never able to duplicate the success of the 2600.

These problems were followed by the video game crash of 1983, with losses that totaled more than $500 million. Warner's stock price slid from $60 to $20, and the company began searching for a buyer for its troubled division. In 1983, Ray Kassar resigned. Financial problems continued to mount and Kassar's successor, James J. Morgan, had less than a year in which to tackle the company's problems. He began a massive restructuring of the company and worked with Warner Communications in May 1984 to create "NATCO" (an acronym for New Atari Company). NATCO further streamlined the company's facilities, personnel, and spending. Unknown to James Morgan and the senior management of Atari, Warner had been in talks with Tramel Technology to buy Atari's consumer electronics and home computer divisions. Negotiating until close to midnight on July 1, 1984, Jack Tramiel purchased most of the assets of the home computing and game console divisions of Atari for $240 million in promissory notes and stocks. Warner gained a 20% stake in Tramel Technology, which was renamed Atari Corporation. Warner retained the arcade division, continuing it under the name Atari Games, but sold it to Namco in 1985. Warner also sold the Ataritel division to Mitsubishi.

### Atari Corporation (1984–1996)

Under Tramiel's ownership, Atari Corp. used the remaining stock of game console inventory to keep the company afloat while they finished development on a 16/32-bit computer system, the Atari ST. ("ST" stands for "sixteen/thirty-two", referring to the machines' 16-bit bus and 32-bit processor core.) In April 1985, they released an update to the 8-bit computer line, the Atari 65XE, the first in the Atari XE series. June 1985 saw the release of the Atari 130XE; Atari User Groups received early sneak-preview samples of the new Atari 520ST's, and major retailer shipments hit store shelves in September 1985 of Atari's new 32-bit Atari ST computers. In 1986, Atari launched two consoles designed under Warner — the Atari 2600jr and the Atari 7800 console (which saw limited release in 1984). Atari rebounded, earning a $25 million profit that year.

In 1987, Atari acquired the Federated Group for $67.3 million, securing shelf space in over 60 stores in California, Arizona, Texas and Kansas at a time when major American electronics outlets were reluctant to carry Atari-branded computers, and two-thirds of Atari's PC production was sold in Europe. The Federated Group (not related to Federated Department Stores) was sold to Silo in 1989.

In 1988, the company unveiled the 1040STF and the Mega ST with a bit image manipulator chip, and launched its first parallel computer. The ATW-800 Transputer was based on the Inmos T800 CPU, which had a 32/64-bit architecture, ran at 15 million instructions per second (MIPS) and housed a Charity videochip that supported 16 million colors. The company continued to experiment with parallel computing aiming at B2B customers and graphic designers, but the transputer line failed to achieve commercial success.

In 1989, Atari released the Atari Lynx, the first ever handheld console with a color display and a backlit screen, to much fanfare. A shortage of parts kept the system from being released nationwide for the 1989 Christmas season, and the Lynx lost market share to Nintendo's Game Boy, which, despite only having a black and white display, was cheaper, had better battery life and had much higher availability. Tramiel emphasized computers over game consoles, but Atari's proprietary computer architecture and operating system fell victim to the success of the Wintel platform while the game market revived. In 1989, Atari Corp. sued Nintendo for $250 million, alleging it had an illegal monopoly. Atari eventually lost the case when it was rejected by a US district court in 1992.

In 1991, Atari released its PCs ABC386SXII and ABC386DXII based on Intel's i386 chip.

In 1993, Atari positioned its Jaguar as the only 64-bit interactive media entertainment system available, but it sold poorly. It would be the last home console to be produced by Atari and the last to be produced by an American manufacturer until Microsoft 's introduction of the Xbox in 2001.

By 1996, a series of successful lawsuits had left Atari with millions of dollars in the bank, but the failure of the Lynx and Jaguar left Atari without a product to sell. Tramiel and his family also wanted out of the business. The result was a rapid succession of changes in ownership. In July 1996, Atari merged with JTS Inc., a short-lived maker of hard disk drives, to form JTS Corp. Atari's role in the new company largely became that of holder for the Atari properties and minor support, and consequently the name largely disappeared from the market. Video game magazines reported it as Atari exiting the video game business.

The end of an era — Atari's story is one that certainly should never be forgotten by anyone who has ever enjoyed a videogame.

### Atari Games (1984–1999)

After the sale of the consumer electronics and computer divisions to Jack Tramiel, Atari was renamed Atari Games Corporation. Atari Games retained most of the same employees and managers from the coin-operated games division and continued many of the divisions projects from before the transition. In 1985, a controlling interest in the coin-operated games division was sold to Namco, which also took the Atari Games name. Warner renamed Atari Games to Atari Holdings, which continued as a nonoperating subsidiary until 1992. Meanwhile, Namco later lost interest in operating Atari Games. In 1987, Namco sold 33% of its shares to a group of employees led by then-president Hideyuki Nakajima. He had been the president of Atari Games since 1985. Atari Ireland was a subsidiary of Atari Games that manufactured their games for the European market; while under Namco, Atari Ireland also manufactured Sega 's Hang-On (1985) for the European market.

Atari Games continued to manufacture arcade games and units, and starting in 1988, also sold cartridges for the Nintendo Entertainment System under the Tengen brand name, including a version of Tetris. The companies exchanged a number of lawsuits in the late 1980s related to disputes over the rights to Tetris and Tengen's circumvention of Nintendo's lockout chip, which prevented third parties from creating unauthorized games. The suit finally reached a settlement in 1994, with Atari Games paying Nintendo cash damages and the use of several patent licenses.

In April 1996, after an unsuccessful bid by Atari cofounder Nolan Bushnell, the company was sold to WMS Industries, owners of the Williams, Bally, and Midway arcade brands, which restored the use of the Atari Games name. On November 19, 1999, Atari Games Corporation was renamed Midway Games West Inc., resulting in the Atari Games name no longer being used, with San Francisco Rush 2049 being the final Atari-branded arcade release.

### Hasbro Interactive (1998–2000)

On March 13, 1998, JTS sold the Atari name and assets to Hasbro Interactive for $5 million, less than a fifth of what Warner Communications had paid 22 years earlier. This transaction primarily involved the brand and intellectual property, which now fell under the Atari Interactive division of Hasbro Interactive. Two years after Atari's "death", the brand made a comeback with Hasbro immediately stating the development of new remakes of Atari classics, starting with Centipede released on Windows PCs later that year.

The brand name changed hands again in December 2000 when French software publisher Infogrames took over Hasbro Interactive.

### Infogrames and Atari SA (2001–present)

In October 2001, Infogrames Entertainment SA (IESA, now Atari SA) announced that it was "reinventing" the Atari brand with the launch of three new games featuring a prominent Atari branding on their boxarts: Splashdown, MX Rider and TransWorld Surf. Infogrames used Atari as a brand name for games aimed at 18–34 year olds. Other Infogrames games under the Atari name included V-Rally 3, Neverwinter Nights, Stuntman and Enter the Matrix.

On May 8, 2003, IESA had its majority-owned but discrete US subsidiary Infogrames, Inc. officially renamed Atari, Inc., renamed its European operations to Atari Europe but kept the original name of the main company Infogrames Entertainment. The original Atari holdings division purchased from Hasbro, Hasbro Interactive, was also made a separate corporate entity renamed as Atari Interactive.

Between 2004 and 2011, Atari produced and marketed Atari Flashback retro consoles, reminiscent of the Atari 2600 design. Since 2011, these consoles have been produced by AtGames under the license from Atari. Atari Flashback Portable is a handheld game console sold since 2016. In April 2011, Atari re-released their back catalogue of arcade and Atari 2600 games to be played on mobile devices.

#### Atari, Inc. buyout and name change to Atari SA

On March 6, 2008, IESA made an offer to Atari, Inc. to buy out all remaining public shares for a value of $1.68 per share, or $11 million total. The offer would make IESA sole owner of Atari, Inc., thus making it a privately held company. On April 30, 2008, Atari, Inc. announced its intentions to accept Infogrames' buyout offer and to merge with Infogrames. On October 8, 2008, IESA completed its acquisition of Atari, Inc., making it a wholly owned subsidiary.

On December 9, 2008, Atari announced that it had acquired Cryptic Studios, an MMORPG developer. Namco Bandai purchased a 34% stake in Atari Europe on May 14, 2009, paving the way for its acquisition from IESA. Atari had significant financial issues for several years prior, with losses in the tens of millions since 2005. In May 2009, Infogrames Entertainment SA, the parent company of Atari, and Atari Interactive, announced it would change its name to Atari SA. In April 2010, Atari SA board member and former CEO David Gardner resigned. Original Atari co-founder Nolan Bushnell joined the board as a representative for Blubay holdings. As of March 31, 2011, the board of directors consisted of Frank Dangeard, Jim Wilson, Tom Virden, Gene Davis and Alexandra Fichelson.

On January 21, 2013, the four related companies Atari, Atari Interactive, Humongous, and California US Holdings filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in the United States Bankruptcy Court for the Southern District of New York. All three Ataris emerged from bankruptcy one year later and the entering of the social casino gaming industry with Atari Casino. Frederic Chesnais, who now heads all three companies, stated that their entire operations consist of a staff of 10 people.

#### Chesnais era (2013–2021)

On June 22, 2014, Atari announced a new corporate strategy that would include a focus on "new audiences", specifically " LGBT, social casinos, real-money gambling, and YouTube ".

On June 8, 2017, a short teaser video was released, promoting a new product; and the following week Chesnais confirmed the company was developing a new game console – the hardware was stated to be based on PC technology, and still under development. In mid July 2017 an Atari press release confirmed the existence of the aforementioned new hardware, referred to as the "Ataribox". The box design was derived from early Atari designs (e.g. 2600) with a ribbed top surface, and a rise at the back of the console; two versions were announced: one with a traditional wood veneer front, and the other with a glass front. Connectivity options were revealed, including HDMI, USB (x4), and SD card – the console was said to support both classic and current games. Also, according to an official company statement of June 22, 2017, the product was to be initially launched via a crowdfunding campaign in order to minimize any financial risk to the parent company.

On September 26, 2017, Atari sent out a press release about the new " Atari VCS ", which confirmed more details about the console. It will run a Linux operating system, with full access to the underlying OS, but it will have a custom interface designed for the TV.

On January 27, 2020, Atari announced a deal with GSD Group to build Atari Hotels, with the first breaking ground in Phoenix in mid-2020. Additional hotels were also planned in Las Vegas, Denver, Chicago, Austin, Seattle, San Francisco, and San Jose. The company plans to make the hotel experience immersive and accessible to all ages. Hotels are planned to include virtual and augmented reality technologies.

On December 16, 2020, Atari shipped the first units of the Atari VCS exclusive to backers of the systems crowdfunding campaign. Atari urged the backers to give feedback on the system so that the company could make changes to improve the product on its official launch.

In 2020, Atari launched its decentralized cryptocurrency Atari Token in equal partnership with the ICICB Group. Atari Group announced in March 2020 that it granted ICICB a non-exclusive license to run a cryptocurrency online casino on Atari's website, based on the Atari Token. The group partnering with Atari opened a new company in Gibraltar called Atari Chain LTD. In March 2021, Atari extended its partnership with ICICB Group for the development of Atari branded hotels, and the first hotels will be constructed at selected locations outside the United States, with Dubai, Gibraltar and Spain.

#### 2021–present

In late 2021, Wade Rosen became the new CEO of Atari. Unlike his predecessor, Rosen's strategy for Atari is a re-focus on retro gaming and Atari's classic franchises.

On 18 April 2022, Atari announced the termination of all license agreements with ICICB Group and its subsidiaries ("ICICB"). The license agreements between Atari and ICICB, including the Atari Chain Limited license (the "Joint Venture") and the related licenses including hotel and casino licenses, have been terminated effective 18 April 2022. ICICB is not authorized to represent Atari or its brands in any manner.

In March 2024, Atari announced that it will work with coin-op manufacturer Alan-1 to bring Atari Recharged titles on arcades. This would mark the return of the Atari brand in the arcade space after 25 years, when San Francisco Rush 2049 was released.


Ulises Dávila

# Ulises Dávila

## Abstract

Ulises Alejandro Dávila Plascencia (born 13 April 1991) is a Mexican professional footballer who last played as an attacking midfielder for A-League club Macarthur FC.

## Club career

### Guadalajara

Born in Guadalajara, Jalisco, Dávila was champion with Guadalajara in the category 1990–91 in the National Youth Championship in July 2006, with a 1–0 win over Pachuca, where he scored the only goal. That same year, Chivas also won the Manchester United Premier Cup "Generation 1991", beating Arsenal by a score of 2-1. In the 2008–09 season, he was loaned to affiliate club Tapatio, scoring three goals in eighteen matches in the Primera División A.

He made his debut for Guadalajara in the Primera División on 29 August 2009, in a 2–2 draw against Pachuca. Dávila also featured in five matches in the Copa Libertadores tournament.

### Chelsea

On 27 August 2011, it was announced that Dávila had signed for English club Chelsea, signing a five-year contract, making him the first Mexican to sign with Chelsea.

#### Loan to Vitesse

On 30 August 2011, it was announced that Dávila joined Dutch football club Vitesse Arnhem on loan for the 2011–12 season. He was given the number 24 jersey. He made his club debut against Roda JC Kerkrade on 17 September 2011, with the game ending in a 5–0 win for Vitesse. Unlike his teammate from Chelsea, Tomáš Kalas, Dávila struggled to get into the starting XI and had been an unused substitute for a number of games. Playing for their reserve side, he had more success, scoring three goals in three games. On 19 February 2012, once again returned onto the bench against FC Twente but was an unused sub, the game ended in a 1–4 loss for Vitesse. On 28 April 2012, again returned onto the bench against Excelsior but again was an unused sub, the game ended in a 3–2 win for Vitesse. Dávila spent the majority of his time at Vitesse with the reserve squad.

#### Loan to Sabadell

On 13 July 2012 CE Sabadell announced that Dávila will join them on loan for the 2012–13 season. On 29 September 2012, Dávila scored his first league goal against Guadalajara, winning the game 2–1. On 18 November Dávila scored a brace against Recreativo de Huelva, and also hit the post almost scoring his first hat trick, Sabadell won the game 5–2 away.

#### Loan to Córdoba

On the last day of the 2013 Summer transfer window, Chelsea confirmed that Dávila was having a medical at Córdoba CF of the Spanish Segunda División. Later on that day he secured his deal on a season-long loan.

On 23 June, he scored an equaliser in injury time away to UD Las Palmas in the second leg of the play-off final, earning Córdoba's promotion to La Liga for the first time in 42 years.

#### Loan to Vitória Setubal

On 23 January 2015, Dávila ended his loan with Tenerife to join the Portuguese side on loan for the rest of the season. On 3 August 2015, it was announced that Dávila will remain with Vitória for the 2015–16 season.

### Santos Laguna

On 4 December 2015, Santos Laguna announced they had purchased Dávila from Chelsea and signed him to a three-year contract.

### Delhi Dynamos

In December 2018, Dávila signed with Indian Super League side Delhi Dynamos, and scored his only goal on 17 February 2019, against Bengaluru FC in a 3–2 win.

### Wellington Phoenix

In July 2019, Dávila signed with A-League side Wellington Phoenix on a two-year deal. Dávila secured a fourth goal in six starts with a goal from outside the box against Brisbane Roar on 23 November 2019. The goal proved vital in their 2–1 victory, Wellington's first win of the 2019–20 A-League season. Dávila helped the Phoenix to its best ever regular season finish, ending in third place for the League, before the team lost 0–1 to Perth Glory FC in their first game of the elimination finals. Dávila finished the season with 12 goals and five assists, winning the Johnny Warren Medal along with Miloš Ninković.

### Macarthur FC

On 17 May it was announced that Dávila had signed a three-year deal to join Macarthur FC for the 2021–22 season. On 6 November 2021, Dávila was announced as the captain for the 2021–22 A-League Men season. On 24 June 2024, the club announced that they agreed a mutual termination of contract with Dávila. At the same time, Dávila was arrested for allegedly being involved in match fixing.

## International career

### Youth

Dávila was part of the under-20 side that played the 2011 CONCACAF U-20 Championship, in which Mexico finished as champions. He also participated in the 2011 Toulon Tournament in France, where Mexico finished as fourth place losing to Italy in a penalty shoot-out. Dávila scored two goals during the 2011 Toulon Tournament, scoring against France and Hungary.

Dávila was part of the 20-man squad that participated in the 2011 FIFA U-20 World Cup in Colombia. Mexico would eventually finish third in the tournament by beating France 3–1, and he was able to score a goal against France.

### Senior

Dávila received his first call up to the senior national team to play the 2011 Copa América, to replace one of the five players that were suspended for having disciplinary problems in Quito, Ecuador. He did not play in any of Mexico's matches.

## Personal life

In March 2020, Dávila's wife Lily Pacheco gave birth to a son. Lily died on 30 May 2022.

## Match fixing scandal

On 17 May 2024, Dávila along with two Macarthur FC teammates, Kearyn Baccus and Clayton Lewis, were arrested by New South Wales Police Force over an alleged match fixing scandal.

## Honours

Santos Laguna

- Liga MX: Clausura 2018

Macarthur FC

- Australia Cup: 2022

Mexico U20

- CONCACAF U-20 Championship: 2011

Individual

- A-League Player of the Month: December 2019

- A-League PFA Team of the Season: 2019–20, 2020–21, 2021–22

- Johnny Warren Medal: 2020–21

- Mark Viduka Medal: 2022


Lufthansa Flight 181

# Lufthansa Flight 181

## Abstract

Lufthansa Flight 181, a Boeing 737-230C jet airliner (reg. D-ABCE) named Landshut, was hijacked on 13 October 1977 by four militants of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine while en route from Palma de Mallorca, Spain, to Frankfurt am Main, West Germany. The hijacking aimed to secure the release of eleven notorious Red Army Faction leaders held in West German prisons and two Palestinians held in Turkey. This event was part of the so-called German Autumn, intended to increase pressure on the West German government. The hijackers diverted the flight to several locations in a harrowing odyssey before ending in Mogadishu, Somalia, where the crisis concluded in the early morning hours of 18 October 1977 under the cover of darkness. The West German counter-terrorism unit GSG 9, with ground support from the Somali Armed Forces, stormed the aircraft, rescuing all 87 passengers and four crew members. Tragically, the captain of the flight was killed by the hijackers earlier in the ordeal.

## Background

The hijacking was a dramatic escalation in the so-called German Autumn of 1977, a period marked by a series of terrorist activities in West Germany. It was directly linked to the dramatic kidnapping in Braunsfeld, Cologne, of Hanns Martin Schleyer, a prominent West German industrialist, by the Red Army Faction (RAF) " Commando Siegfried Hausner " group on 5 September 1977. Militants of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP), working in concert with the RAF, hijacked the Lufthansa Landshut plane to secure the release of their imprisoned leaders and comrades, predominantly held in the West German supermax Stammheim Prison, as well as two Palestinians held in Turkey. The hijacking was intended to increase pressure on the West German government to meet these demands. It culminated in the West German GSG 9 rescue operation, codenamed "Feuerzauber" (German for "Magic Fire"), which resulted in the liberation of all 87 passengers and four of the five crew members. Three hijackers were killed during the rescue, and one was captured alive.

## Lufthansa crew

Two flight crew and three cabin crew operated the round-trip flight from Frankfurt to Palma de Mallorca:

## Hijackers

At the time, the hijackers' names remained unknown to the passengers and crew of Lufthansa Flight 181, other than Captain Mahmoud's alias, so the passengers and crew referred to them by nicknames. To this day, the survivors still refer to them as "the little one," "the fat one," "the boy," and "Captain Mahmoud".

During the five-day ordeal, the hijackers terrorized the passengers and crew with verbal abuse, physical assaults, and restraint, subjecting them to psychological torture and threats of further physical harm or death. They also sifted through the passengers' passports, luggage, and personal possessions, searching for clues indicating Jewish identity. At one point, Mahmoud found a Montblanc pen in a passenger's luggage. Mistaking the snowcap logo on the cap of the pen for the Star of David, he accused the passenger of being Jewish. Despite the passenger's desperate denial, Mahmoud declared, "You report for shooting tomorrow morning at 8:30, understood?" Almost as feared as the leader Mahmoud was Andrawes Sayeh, whom some passengers later described as equally zealous.

## Key West German rescue personnel

## Hijacking

At 13:55 Central European Summer Time (CEST) on Thursday, 13 October 1977, Lufthansa flight LH 181, a Boeing 737 named Landshut, took off from Palma de Mallorca Airport en route to Frankfurt Airport with 87 passengers (91 including the 4 hijackers) and five crew members. The hijackers were able to board the aircraft carrying two concealed pistols, four hand grenades, and 500 grams (18 oz) of plastic explosive due to lax airport security in Palma, Spain. The flight was piloted by Captain Jürgen Schumann, with co-pilot Jürgen Vietor at the controls.

About 30 minutes later, while overflying Marseille, the aircraft was hijacked by four militants of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP), who called themselves "Commando Martyr Halima" in honour of fellow German militant Brigitte Kuhlmann. Kuhlmann, who used the nom de guerre "Halima", had been killed in Operation Entebbe in Uganda the previous year. The leader of the hijacker group, adopting the alias "Captain Mahmoud", angrily burst into the cockpit, brandishing a fully loaded pistol. He forcibly removed Vietor from the cockpit, sending him to the economy class area to join the passengers and flight attendants, leaving Schumann at the flight controls. As the other three hijackers knocked over food trays and ordered the hostages to put their hands on their heads, Mahmoud coerced Captain Schumann to fly east to Larnaca in Cyprus but was told that the plane had insufficient fuel and would have to land in Rome first.

### Rome

The hijacked aircraft changed course at around 14:38 CEST, as reported by air traffic controllers in southern France near Aix-en-Provence, diverting eastward and landing at Fiumicino Airport in Rome at 15:45 CEST for refuelling. At around 17:00 CEST, the hijackers made their first demands via the control tower, acting in concert with a Red Army Faction group, the Commando Siegfried Hausner group, which had kidnapped West German industrialist Hanns Martin Schleyer five weeks earlier. They demanded the release of all "comrades" imprisoned in the Federal Republic (West Germany), specifically the eleven Red Army Faction (RAF) terrorists detained predominantly at the supermax Stammheim Prison in Stuttgart.

The West German government expected active support for its tough anti-terrorism policy from its NATO and EC partners. West German Interior Minister Werner Maihofer contacted his Italian counterpart Francesco Cossiga and urged that the take-off of the hijacked plane be prevented by all means possible—whether by blocking the runway, which was initiated hesitantly or by shooting out the tyres during take-off. Cossiga never considered this, because the airport administration had unilaterally complied with the kidnappers' request to refuel the plane. Firing on the plane as it took off could easily have led to an explosion and thus a bloodbath among the passengers. After consulting with his colleagues, Cossiga decided that the most desirable solution for the Italian government was to rid itself of the problem altogether and not become a target of international terrorism through forceful action. At 17:42 CEST, the Landshut took off unhindered towards Cyprus, even without obtaining clearance from Rome air traffic control.

### Hijackers demands and ultimatum

While maintaining a rigorous news blackout, the West German government, stalling for time—a strategy they had already adopted early in the crisis of the kidnapping of West German industrialist Hanns Martin Schleyer on 5 September—asked the hijackers to "clarify" some points in their communiqué. The West German government had previously proposed Geneva lawyer Denis Payot, president of the Swiss League for Human and Citizen Rights (Ligue suisse des droits de l'homme et du citoyen), as a middleman for negotiations with Schleyer's kidnappers. Payot, a 35-year-old lawyer, was first mentioned by Schleyer's kidnappers when they demanded that Payot and Martin Niemoeller, an 85-year-old German theologian, Lutheran pastor, and former opponent of the Nazi regime, accompany the eleven Red Army Faction members on a flight to a country that would be named after they were freed from prison.

A letter in English, dated 13 October by the hijackers but received on Friday night, 14 October, addressed to Federal Chancellor Helmut Schmidt, was delivered to Payot, as well as the French newspaper France-Soir, the Agence France-Presse (AFP) in Paris, and the Frankfurter Rundschau. The hijacking of Lufthansa Flight 181 had intensified the pressure on the West German government to have the Red Army Faction prisoners flown out, reaching an extreme level. Observers in the Federal Chancellery in Bonn were now firmly expecting a prisoner-hostage exchange.

The letter, which Payot said contained "demands and precise deadlines," was immediately forwarded to the Federal Chancellery in Bonn. Payot kept an earlier promise to the West German government that he would not divulge details of the messages that went through his office. Schleyer's kidnappers had contacted the lawyer fourteen times by telephone between September 6 and 17. Telephone calls made from West Germany to Payot's number were intercepted by the West German Federal Criminal Police Agency from the Frankfurt telecommunications office, and a "call trace" was also set up that allowed these calls to be traced back to telephone booths in Cologne. The French authorities discovered that Payot had also been called several times from Gare du Nord in Paris. The letter received by Payot from the hijackers, addressed to Chancellor Helmut Schmidt, stated:

Ultimatum to the Chancellor of the Federal Republic of Germany.

We hereby inform you that the passengers and crew of Lufthansa aircraft 737, flight number LH 181, from Palma to Frankfurt (M) are under our complete control and responsibility. The lives of the passengers and crew and the life of Dr. Hanns Martin Schleyer depends on your fulfilling the following demands:

- Release of the following RAF comrades from West German prisons: Andreas Baader, Gudrun Ensslin, Jan Carl Raspe, Verena Becker, Werner Hoppe, Karl-Heinz Dellwo, Hanna Krabbe, Bernd Rössner, Ingrid Schubert, Irmgard Möller, Günter Sonnenberg. Each person is to receive DM 100,000.

- Release of the following Palestinian F.L.P. comrades from prison in Istanbul: - Mahdi - Hussein.

- The payment of 15 million US dollars according to the attached instructions.

- Make arrangements with one of the following countries to receive the comrades who have been released: Democratic Republic of Vietnam, Republic of Somalia, People's Democratic Republic of Yemen.

- The German prisoners should be taken to their destination in an aircraft provided by you, you should fly via Istanbul and take on the two Palestinian comrades released from the prison there. The Turkish Government is well informed of our demands. All prisoners should reach their destination by Sunday, 16 October 1977, 08:00 GMT. The money should be handed over within the same period in accordance with the enclosed instructions.

- If all prisoners are not released and reach their destination and the money is not handed over as instructed within the specified time, Hanns Martin Schleyer and all passengers and the crew of Lufthansa aircraft 737, flight LH 181, will be killed immediately.

- If you comply with our instructions, everyone will be released.

- We will not attempt to contact you again. This will be our last contact with you. You will be held responsible for any error or failure in releasing the above prisoners or in handing over the specified ransom as instructed.

- Any attempt at delay or deception on your part will result in the immediate expiration of the ultimatum and the execution of Hanns Martin Schleyer, the passengers and the crew of the aircraft.

13 October 1977, Organization for the Fight against World Imperialism.

The letter to the Federal Republic of West Germany comprised two statements from the hijackers, who identified themselves as members of an "Organization for the Fight against World Imperialism." The first statement reiterated the demands made by Schleyer's kidnappers, while the second statement, titled "Operation Kafr Qaddum " was addressed to "all revolutionaries in the world," "all free Arabs," and "our Palestinian masses," attempting to provide a political justification for their actions. Additionally, a third statement was provided by the Commando Siegfried Hausner Red Army Faction, who were holding Hanns Martin Schleyer hostage.

Because this demand from the hijackers included prisoners held in Turkey, the West German Federal Government was in constant contact with the Turkish government from 14 October until the hostages' liberation on 18 October.

### Larnaca

The Landshut landed in Larnaca, Cyprus, at 20:28 CEST. After about an hour, a local Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) representative arrived at the airport and, over the radio, tried to persuade Mahmoud to release the hostages. This only provoked a furious response from Mahmoud, who angrily screamed at him in Arabic until the PLO representative gave up and left. The aircraft was then refuelled, and Schumann asked flight control for routing to Beirut. He was told that Beirut Airport was blockaded and closed to them, and Mahmoud suggested that they fly to Damascus instead. The Landshut took off at 22:50 CEST, heading for Beirut, but was refused permission to land there at 23:01 CEST. After also being denied landing permission in Damascus at 23:14 CEST, Baghdad at 00:23 CEST (14 October), and Kuwait at 00:58 CEST, they flew to Bahrain.

### Bahrain

Schumann was informed by a passing Qantas airliner that Bahrain International Airport was also closed to them. Schumann radioed flight control and stated that they had insufficient fuel to fly elsewhere. Despite being told again that the airport was closed, he was suddenly given an automatic landing frequency by the flight controller. The plane finally touched down in Bahrain at 01:52 CEST on 14 October. Upon arrival, the aircraft was immediately surrounded by armed troops. Mahmoud radioed the control tower, threatening to shoot the co-pilot unless the soldiers were withdrawn. After a stand-off with the control tower, during which Mahmoud set a five‑minute deadline and held a loaded pistol to Vietor's head, the troops were withdrawn. The aircraft was then refuelled and took off for Dubai at 03:24 CEST.

### Dubai

Approaching Dubai, the 737 was again denied landing permission. Overflying Dubai International Airport in the early light of dawn, the hijackers and pilots saw the runway blocked with military jeeps, trucks, and fire engines. Running short of fuel, Schumann radioed the control tower to announce that they were going to land anyway. As they made a low pass over the airport, the vehicles were finally being removed. At 05:40 CEST, the pilots made a smooth touchdown on the airport's main runway at sunrise. The plane was parked at the parking bay around 05:51 CEST, at daybreak.

In Dubai, the hijackers instructed the control tower to send airport crew staff to empty the toilet tanks, supply food, water, medicine, and newspapers, and take away the rubbish. Captain Schumann was able to communicate the number of hijackers on board, specifying that there were two male and two female hijackers by dropping different types of cigarettes on the tarmac from the cockpit window. In an interview with journalists, this information was revealed by Dubai's Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, then Minister of Defence. The hijackers learned about this, possibly from the radio, causing an enraged Mahmoud to angrily threaten Schumann's life for secretly sharing this coded message.

The aircraft remained parked on the tarmac at Dubai International Airport throughout Saturday, 15 October, during which the jet airliner experienced technical snags with the electrical generator, air conditioning, and auxiliary power unit breaking down. The hijackers demanded that engineers fix the plane. On the morning of Sunday, 16 October, Mahmoud threatened to start shooting hostages if the aircraft was not refuelled, and Dubai authorities eventually agreed to refuel the plane.

In the meantime, Hans-Jürgen Wischnewski, the West German minister responsible for handling the hijacking crisis, Oberleutnant Ulrich Wegener, commander of the elite West German counter-terrorism tactical intervention unit GSG 9, along with his adjutants, and Gerhard Boeden, head of the counter-terrorism department at the West German Federal Criminal Police Agency, arrived in Dubai to persuade the United Arab Emirates government to allow the GSG 9 to storm the Lufthansa aircraft and rescue the hostages. However, after permission was granted, senior operatives from GSG 9, supported by two SAS operatives who had joined the German officials in Dubai at the behest of the British government, insisted on additional rehearsals and dry-runs on an adjacent airstrip.

There are many legends surrounding the use of stun grenades in the rescue operation. The British SAS (Special Air Service Regiment) offered these new types of grenades, which were tested for effectiveness in Dubai. Due to the high phosphorus content, the grenades were deemed unsuitable and were not used in the plane. Reports suggest that up to 45 hours of training were conducted while in Dubai, totaling over 80 hours.

While Wegener was contemplating his options, the jet airliner was on the move again after the hijackers fully refuelled the Landshut plane and the pilots started up the engines. At 12:19 CEST on Sunday, 16 October, it took off, bound for Salalah and Masirah Island in Oman, where permission to land was once again denied and both airports were blockaded. After Riyadh in Saudi Arabia also closed and blockaded its airport runways at 14:50 CEST on 16 October (three days after the hijacking began), a course was set to Aden in South Yemen, at the limit of the plane's fuel range.

### Aden

Approaching Aden airspace, the flight was once again denied permission to land at Aden International Airport, just as it had been at the other airports in the region. Both main runways and the apron were blocked by military jeeps, tanks, and other vehicles. With the plane running dangerously low on fuel, the Aden airport authorities adamantly refused to clear the runways, leaving co-pilot Vietor little choice but to make a forced landing on an unpaved sand strip roughly parallel to both runways at 15:55 CEST.

The plane remained largely intact following the ground roll. However, when the Aden authorities instructed the hijackers and pilots to fly away, both pilots were concerned about the aircraft's airworthiness after its rough landing on rugged, rocky, and sandy terrain. They deemed it unsafe to take off and fly the jet airliner again until a thorough engineering inspection had been conducted. After the engineers claimed that the airframe was intact, Mahmoud allowed Schumann to check the condition of the landing gear and engines. Both engines had ingested a copious amount of sand and dirt at maximum reverse thrust and were clogged. The landing gear had not collapsed, but its structure was weakened, and its extension/retraction mechanism was damaged.

Schumann did not immediately return to the plane after inspecting it, despite numerous calls from the hijackers threatening to detonate the aircraft due to his absence. The reasons for his prolonged absence remained unclear for a long time. It was only in 2008, as part of a television documentary, that the man who had met Schumann at the airport in Aden was identified: Sheikh Ahmed Mansur, an Air Force General in command of a special Yemeni unit, who controlled the airport and surrounded the plane. Mansur testified that the captain, concerned for the lives of his passengers, demanded that they comply with the hijackers' demands. "I told him: I can fulfill any other request, but it is impossible for the passengers to disembark and the hijackers to negotiate from Yemeni soil. The conversation lasted eight to nine minutes," Mansur said. He only spoke to me. The ex-general also recalled Schumann's last words: "I'm going back now. I'm sure they're going to kill me."

Schumann subsequently boarded the plane, only to face the wrath of Mahmoud. In a fit of rage, Mahmoud furiously forced him to kneel on the passenger cabin floor and, without giving him a chance to explain himself, fatally shot him in the head. The hijacked plane was refuelled at 01:00 CEST on 17 October. At 02:02 CEST, with co-pilot Vietor at the controls, it dangerously and sluggishly took off from Aden, bound for the Somali capital of Mogadishu.

### Mogadishu

On the morning of 17 October at daybreak, around 04:34 CEST, the Landshut made an unannounced and textbook landing on the main runway at Mogadishu International Airport. The Somali government had initially refused the plane permission to land but relented when the jet airliner appeared in Somali airspace, fearing for the passengers' lives. The chief hijacker, Mahmoud (Akache), told co-pilot Vietor that he was very impressed by Vietor's flying skills and that he was free to disembark and flee since the crippled plane was in no state to fly elsewhere. Vietor, however, chose to stay on board with the 87 passengers and three remaining crew members.

After the twin‐engine aircraft was parked in front of the main airport terminal, it was surrounded at a distance by armed Somali troops. Schumann's corpse, which had been stored in a coat closet on board the flight throughout the final leg of the journey, was dumped via the aircraft's right rear door onto the tarmac and whisked away in an ambulance. During the day, the hijackers asked for food and medication, which were sent after the Somali government gave its permission; a Somali request that the hijackers release the women and children in exchange for the supplies was rejected. The hijackers set a 16:00 CEST deadline for the Red Army Faction (RAF) prisoners to be released, threatening to blow up the aircraft. The hijackers poured duty-free perfume and spirits over the hostages, telling them it would make them burn better, in preparation for the destruction of the aircraft, which ultimately did not occur. The hijackers were then told that the West German government had agreed to release the RAF prisoners and that their transfer to Mogadishu would take several more hours, but this was a ruse. The hijackers agreed to extend the deadline to 02:30 CEST the following morning (18 October). Mahmoud, now in high spirits, projected himself as the victor as the hijackers untied the hostages. But unbeknownst to them, the West German counter-terrorism unit GSG 9 was preparing to storm the Lufthansa aircraft and bring the dramatic hijacking to a decisive end.

## Rescue

### Operation Feuerzauber: The German GSG 9 assault

While West German Chancellor Helmut Schmidt attempted to negotiate an agreement with Somali President Siad Barre from Bonn, special envoy Hans-Jürgen Wischnewski, GSG 9 commander Ulrich Wegener, and his adjutants Dieter Fox and officer Frieder Baum, who had all been trailing the hijacked Landshut flight and monitoring the situation as part of Wischnewski's mobile crisis management team, arrived at Mogadishu from Jeddah.

In West Germany, a team of approximately 60 GSG 9 Federal Border Guard (Bundesgrenzschutz) counter-terrorism commandos consisting of two units as well as technicians, field telecoms engineers, and paramedics, led by Wegener's deputy commander, Leutnant Klaus Blatte, had already assembled at Sankt Augustin-Hangelar near Bonn and were on standby, awaiting instructions. One of the GSG 9 units had already despatched from West Germany to trail the Landshut and had landed at a NATO military base in Crete, expecting to be deployed while the Landshut was in Cyprus.

On the evening of 16 October, the 1st unit GSG 9, flew from the Porz-Wahn military airfield to a NATO military base in Crete to meet the 3rd unit GSG 9. After the Landshut captain, Jürgen Schumann, was shot dead in Aden (Yemen), the probability of GSG 9 being deployed increased. They were ordered to follow the Landshut with an unspecified destination. The Lufthansa Boeing 707 aircraft, Stuttgart, carrying the GSG 9 assault team, flew from Crete towards Africa and finally to Mogadishu. It was co-piloted by Rüdiger von Lutzau, Gabriele Dillmann 's fiancé.

While the GSG 9 assault team was waiting in Djibouti airspace, an agreement was reached, and Somalia gave the green light for the rescue operation at Mogadishu. Federal Chancellor Helmut Schmidt then held a telephone conversation with GSG 9 commander Ulrich Wegener, ending with words implying, "Over to you." To this end, the West German government not only pledged considerable financial resources to Somalia but – much more importantly for the incumbent Somali 'president' Siad Barre, in reality, a coup plotter – covert support in the purchase of weapons for the war against neighbouring Ethiopia.

On 17 October, the aircraft carrying the GSG 9 assault team landed at Mogadishu International Airport at 17:30 CEST with all its lights off to avoid detection by the hijackers. It parked about 2 kilometres (1.2 mi) away on the joint-use military airport side. The Somali Air Force had flown outdated MiGs over the airport all day, taking off and landing as a diversion. This ensured the terrorists in the hijacked plane would not notice the 707 with Wegener's GSG 9 assault team landing, as Mogadishu airport had been closed to civilian traffic.

After four hours of unloading all of their equipment and conducting the necessary reconnaissance, Wegener and Blatte finalised the assault plan, scheduled to begin at 00:01 CEST on 18 October. They decided to approach from the tail of the aircraft, its blind spot. Six GSG 9 assault teams would use aluminium ladders with tips bound in rubber to gain access to all entry and exit doors, as well as the escape hatches in the fuselage via the overwing doors. Meanwhile, German representatives in the airport tower fed Mahmoud a fictitious progress report on the journey of the released prisoners. Mahmoud was informed that the plane carrying the prisoners had departed from Cairo after refuelling. He was then asked to provide the conditions for the prisoner-hostage exchange over the radio.

Eight GSG 9 observation and sniper commandos, led by deputy commander Blatte, strategically positioned themselves approximately 200 metres (660 ft) away, encircling the Lufthansa Landshut aircraft. They reported all significant events and movements, securing the approach for the GSG 9 assault teams. At 23:15 CEST, six GSG 9 assault teams, along with GSG 9 technicians and paramedics, began their cautious and slow approach to the tail of the Landshut aircraft. By 23:52 CEST, the GSG 9 assault teams had taken up positions under the fuselage of the aircraft.

The GSG 9 assault team relied on their Somali counterparts to create a diversion. Moments before the GSG 9 assault, Somali soldiers set off a massive explosion about 300 metres (980 ft) in front of the jet airliner as a distraction tactic. This prompted Mahmoud and one of the other three hijackers to rush to the cockpit to observe what was happening, isolating them from the hostages in the cabin.

After the GSG 9 observation and sniper command reported over the radio that the two male hijackers and the co-pilot were in the cockpit, the assault teams approached their assigned aircraft doors, put up their rubber-tipped aluminum ladders, and waited for the order to enter. At 00:05 CEST, GSG 9 commander Wegener gave the order "Feuerzauber" (Magic Fire). Two British SAS operators threw new types of diversionary "flashbang" stun grenades into the air over the front exterior of the cockpit as a distraction to blind and disorient the hijackers. Whilst the GSG 9 observation and sniper command surrounding the aircraft provided cover, the GSG 9 assault teams swiftly climbed up their ladders, tore open the aircraft doors, and entered. Wegener, leading one of two groups, opened the forward doors. Two other groups, one led by Joachim Hümmer, stormed the aircraft using ladders to climb up onto the wings and simultaneously open both overwing emergency doors. Meanwhile, two teams, one led by Dieter Fox, each opened the rear doors. Though the GSG 9 assault teams were armed with Heckler & Koch MP5 submachine guns, only the Heckler & Koch P9S semi-automatic pistols with special hollow-point ammunition were to be used inside the aircraft. Wegener himself carried a.38 S&W Special M19 service revolver. Each GSG 9 assault team consisted of two men holding a ladder, three climbing it, one opening the door, and another, weapon ready, storming into the plane, followed by the rest of the team. Fox found himself with a clear path, with the hijackers further up the plane. He grabbed Birgitt Röhll, one of the first passengers, and her 10-year-old son, Stephan, and rushed them to the exit. With this, the first evacuation of hostages through the rear aircraft doors had begun.

A firefight lasting around two minutes ensued, during which the leader of the hijackers, Mahmoud, was killed appearing from the cockpit, and a young male hijacker and a female hijacker were critically wounded in the first-class aisle. The young male hijacker was able to detonate a hand grenade as he died, wounding stewardess Gabriele Dillmann in the legs. Fortunately, the grenade did not have a fragmentation casing. The other young female hijacker, Hind Alameh, was initially unspotted and feared to have hidden among the evacuating passengers. After a brief search, she emerged from taking cover in the forward lavatory and was fatally shot when she opened fire through the door gap on the GSG 9 commandos.

Shouting in German and English for the passengers and crew to get their heads down, the GSG 9 assault teams shot all four terrorists, killing Hind Alameh, Wabil Harb, and Zohair Akache (Mahmoud), and critically wounding Souhaila Andrawes Sayeh. One GSG 9 member was wounded in the neck by return fire from the hijackers. Three passengers and a flight attendant, Gabriele Dillmann, were slightly wounded by the hijacker's grenade explosion.

During the assault, as gunfire was exchanged, the evacuation of hostages first began through the rear aircraft doors, followed by the emergency wing exits. The passengers and crew were urgently ordered and ushered to evacuate the aircraft. Just seven intense minutes after the assault had began, GSG 9 commander Wegener gave the codeword: "Frühlingszeit!" (Springtime!), signaling the successful completion of the operation. Moments later, a crucial telex message reached Chancellor Schmidt in Bonn: "Four opponents down – hostages free – four hostages slightly wounded – one border guard commando slightly wounded." The tension broke, replaced by a wave of relief and triumph.

An American passenger, Christine Santiago, aboard the plane described the rescue: "I saw the door open and a man appears. His face was painted black and he started shouting in German "We're here to rescue you, get down!" (Wir sind hier, um euch zu retten, runter!) and they started shooting."

In press news footage, one female hijacker who survived her gunshot wounds, Andrawes Sayeh, was seen lying on a stretcher covered in blood after being shot in the legs and lungs. After the passengers were freed, as she was wheeled through the arrivals hall of Mogadishu airport, she raised her hand in a victory sign and uttered, "Kill me, we will win!".

The rescuers safely escorted all 87 passengers and 4 crew members off the Lufthansa Landshut aircraft. A few hours later, they were all flown to Cologne Bonn Airport, landing in the early afternoon of Tuesday, 18 October. The GSG 9 assault team received a hero's welcome at the airport, while the hostages, arriving on a separate flight, were met with overwhelming emotional relief.

### Global praise

On 20 October, at the Federal Chancellery in Bonn, GSG 9 commander Ulrich Wegener and the GSG 9 assault team members were each awarded the Federal Cross of Merit for their exceptional bravery and immense courage in the successful rescue of the hostages of Lufthansa Flight 181. The two British SAS operatives, who returned on the same flight with the GSG 9 assault team at the insistence of West German officials, met German Chancellor Schmidt in Bonn. He paid them the highest compliment, and both later received awards from the British government for their supporting role.

After the successful rescue operation, commendations from around the world poured into Bonn, many accompanied by requests for police training from the elite West German GSG 9 counter-terrorism unit.

### British government and SAS role

Practical help came from West German Chancellor Helmut Schmidt 's telephone conversations with British Prime Minister James Callaghan, whom the Chancellor had asked to influence Dubai, given the significant British influence in the Gulf sheikhdoms. Chancellor Schmidt's goal was to apply influence on Dubai to prevent the Landshut from continuing further and allow the West German GSG 9 to rescue the hostages, as Dubai was then considered the only suitable place in the Middle East for such an operation. An ad hoc team was then set up in London, consisting of representatives of the British Foreign and Defence Ministries, the MI6 Secret Service, other Arabia experts, and the ambassador of the United Arab Emirates. The foreign policy office in the West German Federal Chancellery, led by Jürgen Ruhfus, was also involved. In addition to maps, the British government provided two security experts from their Special Air Service (SAS), later known as Major Alastair Morrison accompanied by Sergeant Barry Davies from the SAS's legendary Pagoda Team, as well as new types of diversionary "flashbang" stun grenades and special bulletproof vests, which were later used in Mogadishu.

For a long time, there were persistent rumours that the two SAS operators had helped to draw up the operational plan. However, Wegener, the commander of the GSG 9 rescue operation, dismissed these claims as complete nonsense. He said the SAS operators proposed a completely different tactic from the one we preferred. Our concept involved penetrating the aircraft through all entrances and exits (rather than just one).

There are also many legends surrounding the use of stun grenades in the rescue operation. Wegener said in an interview that the British SAS (Special Air Service Regiment) offered the grenades, which were tested for effectiveness in Dubai. Due to the high phosphorus content, the grenades were deemed unsuitable and were not used in the plane; they also would not have contributed to the success of the operation. However, GSG 9 commander Wegener assigned the two British SAS operatives to participate in the GSG 9 assault operation, specifically deploying the British special "flash-bang" stun grenades around the front exterior of the Lufthansa Landshut aircraft at the very moment the GSG 9 assault teams would storm the aircraft.

In the United Kingdom, Queen Elizabeth II awarded Major Alastair Morrison the Order of the British Empire (OBE) and Sergeant Barry Davies the British Empire Medal (BEM) for their crucial roles in aiding West German officials. Their intimate knowledge of the Persian Gulf states and the Horn of Africa, gained during their SAS service, along with practical support under the direction of the British government, facilitated co-operation from local authorities in the region for the West German officials. This support aided the West German government's rescue efforts and contingency planning for operations on the southern coastline of the Arabian Peninsula.

## Aftermath

News of the rescue of the hostages was followed by the deaths (and alleged suicides) on the same night of RAF (Red Army Faction) members Andreas Baader, Gudrun Ensslin, and Jan-Carl Raspe at the supermax Stammheim Prison in Stuttgart. RAF member Irmgard Möller also attempted suicide with a breadknife but survived her injuries.

On Wednesday, 19 October, the body of German industry president Hanns Martin Schleyer, who had been kidnapped by the RAF some five weeks before the hijacking and was held hostage for 43 days, was found in the trunk of a green Audi 100 with Bad Homburg registration plates on a side street, Rue Chades Peguy, in Mulhouse, France, close to the French-Swiss and French-German borders. The RAF had shot him dead upon hearing about the deaths of their imprisoned comrades. They contacted the French newspaper Libération to announce his 'execution'; a subsequent post-mortem examination indicated that he had been killed the previous day.

Of the 20 people identified as perpetrators in Schleyer's kidnapping, 17 were caught and convicted, two were shot during arrest. One person was not captured and was considered missing. Those involved who are still alive did not reveal the name of the individual responsible for the execution for a long time. In September 2007, former RAF member Peter-Jürgen Boock publicly stated that Rolf Heißler and Stefan Wisniewski were the perpetrators.

After the Landshut crisis, the West German government demonstrated its resolve to never negotiate with terrorists, as it had done in 1972 with the Lufthansa Flight 649 and Lufthansa Flight 615 hijackers, and in the 1975 Peter Lorenz kidnapping. Chancellor Helmut Schmidt was widely praised among Western countries for his decision to storm the aircraft to rescue the hostages, although some criticized the risky action.

West German - Somali relations received a significant boost after the successful rescue operation. Lufthansa henceforth serviced all Somali Airlines planes in West Germany, while Frankfurt became Somali Airlines' new gateway to Europe. As a sign of gratitude, the West German government issued two multi-million dollar loans to the Somali government to assist in the development of the country's fisheries, agriculture, and other sectors.

## The aircraft

Originally built in January 1970, the Landshut is a Boeing 737 -230C (manufacturer's serial number 20254, Boeing line number 230, registration D-ABCE) with two Pratt & Whitney JT8D-9A engines, named after the city of Landshut in Bavaria. While under the control of the hijackers, the plane had traveled 10,000 kilometres (6,200 mi). The damaged aircraft was ferried back to Germany, repaired, and returned to service in late November 1977. It continued to fly for Lufthansa until September 1985 and was sold three months later to US carrier Presidential Airways. It subsequently changed hands several times.

### Purchase

The plane ultimately ended up in the fleet of Brazilian carrier TAF Linhas Aéreas, which purchased it for US$4,708,268 from Transmille Air Services of Kuala Lumpur. The Brazilian company subsequently went bankrupt and was unable to continue paying off the debt. TAF stopped service of the aircraft under registration PT-MTB in January 2008, owing to severe damage that made it unairworthy, and placed it in storage in Fortaleza Airport for years. On 14 August 2017, after Mr Kurpjuweit made inquiries to Fraport about scrapping seven or more abandoned aircraft at the airport, an ex-pilot group suggested bringing the plane back to Germany. David Dornier, former director of the Dornier Museum, along with the German Foreign Ministry, subsequently agreed to the project. Informed of the plans, Kurpjuweit helped the museum director with a feasibility project involving the transport of the aircraft in a Volga-Dnepr Airlines An-124. The 737 was acquired from TAF for R$75,936 (€20,519) in an agreement with the Fortaleza Airport administration for payment of taxes. On 15 August 2017, an MD-11F (registration D-ALCC) was sent to the airport with 8.5 tonnes of equipment and 15 Lufthansa Technik mechanics to dismantle the 737. On 21 and 22 September 2017, an An-124 and Il-76, also from Volga-Dnepr Airlines, arrived at Fortaleza. The An-124 carried the wings and fuselage back to Europe, while the Il-76 carried the engines and seats. After a refuelling stop in Cape Verde, both arrived in Friedrichshafen on 23 September 2017, for a total cost of €10 million paid by the Foreign Ministry. Smaller parts and equipment were sent to Germany in two cargo ship containers. Upon arrival, the parts were presented to approximately 4,000 people during a special event. The recovered Landshut aircraft was scheduled to be restored and exhibited by October 2019.

### Storage

The disassembled plane has since been stored in a hangar at Airplus Maintenance GmbH in Friedrichshafen. The plan to restore and display it in its original 1977 Lufthansa livery was never carried out. Funding issues and questions over competing responsibilities between ministries delayed the project, as did uncertainty over €300,000 in yearly costs. In February 2020, a proposal to transfer the plane parts to Berlin Tempelhof was rejected by the Ministry. After three years in a hangar and with the 737's fate unresolved, David Dornier stepped down in September 2020 as museum director and was replaced by attorney Hans-Peter Rien. He and Culture Minister Monika Grütters (CDU) never agreed on further financing, and the project was placed on hold. By 2023, a new shelter will be rented, and an opening for a kind of "museum" was planned for 2026.

### Studies

The federal government looked into whether the aircraft could be exhibited in the Air Force Museum in Berlin-Gatow. The plans did not meet with approval from historians and experts, due to its remote location and lack of connection between the German army and the "Landshut" aircraft. CSU members of the Munich city council proposed bringing the aircraft to Munich, and an application was filed to see if the plane could be exhibited at former Munich Riem Airport. The city highlighted to Culture Minister Grütters the aircraft's connection to Munich, where it had been christened on 7 August 1970 in a Riem Airport hangar in the presence of a large delegation from Landshut. After exactly three years, plans to exhibit the 737 in Dornier Museum were effectively over.

## Display

The Federal Agency for Civic Education (Bundeszentrale für politische Bildung, bpb) has confirmed that the "Landshut" display will be relocated to Hall Q in October 2024. The display will be housed in a reconstructed hall. The renovation costs have not been specified, but the monthly rent for the hall, which measures 2,700 square metres (29,000 sq ft) plus nearly 1,700 square metres (18,000 sq ft) of open space, is 47,000 Euros. The lease is fixed for 15 years. This rent includes the costs for the now-completed renovations. It has now been decided that the aircraft, which has been rebuilt several times and most recently used as a cargo plane, will not be restored to its 1977 condition. "The focus is on preserving a special historical object with a varied history," said the Federal Agency for Civic Education. Work was being carried out in Hall Q, adjacent to the Spacetech Arena in Friedrichshafen Airport. The opening of the "Learning Place Landshut" project for public visits is finally approaching, with hopes to coincide with the 50th anniversary of the hostage rescue in 2027.

€15 million was made available from the German federal government, in the following allotments:

- €7.5 million: €2.5 million: aircraft maintenance and restoration, which will not happen. €2.5 million: hangar reconstruction, rented and refurbished. €1.5 million: provision of technical equipment €1.0 million: implementation of teaching concept

- €2.5 million: aircraft maintenance and restoration, which will not happen.

- €2.5 million: hangar reconstruction, rented and refurbished.

- €1.5 million: provision of technical equipment

- €1.0 million: implementation of teaching concept

- €7.5 million: operating subsidy for the 10-year period, tied to the requirement to limit "museum" entrance fees to 5 euros per person

## Use of the name Landshut in other airplanes

The name Landshut has been used by Lufthansa on three other planes since 1985:

- Boeing 737-200 D-ABHM (1985-1996)

- Airbus A319-100 D-AILK (1997-2001)

- Airbus A330-300 D-AIKE (2007-2021)

## Notable hostages

- Horst-Gregorio Canellas, German football official responsible for breaking the 1971 Bundesliga scandal was one of the hostages on board, along with his daughter.

## In popular culture

The song "122 Hours of Fear" by The Screamers, recorded in 1978, was inspired by the hijacking.

The song "RAF" by Brian Eno and Snatch (Judy Nylon and Patti Palladin) was created using sound elements from a Baader Meinhof ransom message available by public telephone at the time of the hijacking.

The hijacking and the hostage rescue operation were portrayed in two German television films: Death Game in 1997 and Mogadischu, directed by Roland Suso Richter, in 2008.

The hijacking and rescue were also portrayed in the Black Ops television series, season 2 episode 76, titled "Operation Fire Magic".

The 2015 video game Tom Clancy's Rainbow Six Siege used Lufthansa Flight 181, along with other historical hostage extraction operations, as inspiration for the game and as research for making the game more accurate.

The hijacking and rescue were also a subplot device in the 2018 film Suspiria.