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, 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.


List of outdoor ice hockey games

# List of outdoor ice hockey games

## Abstract

Playing hockey games outdoors—in soccer, football and baseball stadiums—is an increasingly popular trend for junior, college, professional and international competitions in the 21st century. The popularity of outdoor games has resulted in attendance records in several leagues, and the current world record total of 104,173 was set at The Big Chill at the Big House, a December 2010 National Collegiate Athletic Association game between the University of Michigan and Michigan State University.

While other indoor sports such as basketball have been able to use outdoor tennis courts and even aircraft carriers for outdoor games, this is rarely possible in ice hockey because a regulation rink is generally much wider and longer than the playing surface available in either of those venues. Ice hockey, however, has been played at Stade Roland Garros, the venue of the French Open in tennis. Staging a Vysshaya liga game on the Russian aircraft carrier Admiral Kuznetsov has been considered as well. To compensate for the varying weather conditions at outdoor ice hockey games, the teams may switch sides after each half of a period.

## History

In the early history of hockey, games were played outdoors on rivers, lakes, and other naturally occurring ice surfaces. The first indoor game, held in 1875, was a novelty at the time, and after that the game moved inside. While the first Olympic hockey tournament, held in 1920, was played indoors, games at the first Winter Olympics in 1924 were the first of several such tournaments to be played outdoors. Games at the World Championships were occasionally played outdoors, including the 1957 gold medal game between the Soviet Union and Sweden at the Lenin Stadium in Moscow. The attendance at that game was approximately 55,000, a number that stood as a record for more than 40 years. In 1954, the Detroit Red Wings of the National Hockey League (NHL) played an exhibition game on an outdoor ice surface against the inmates of Michigan 's Marquette Branch Prison.

While the New York Rangers and the Los Angeles Kings played an NHL exhibition game in 1991 outside Caesars Palace in Las Vegas, the modern trend for outdoor competition began in 2001. That year, Michigan State University and the University of Michigan played to a 3–3 tie in an outdoor game known as the Cold War before 74,554 fans. The game was held at Michigan State's Spartan Stadium, with the hockey rink set up in the middle of the football field.

The NHL's first regular season outdoor game ensued: the 2003 Heritage Classic, hosted by the Edmonton Oilers, who lost by a 4–3 score to the Montreal Canadiens. Though the game was played in frigid temperatures that went as low as −19 °C (−2 °F), it drew over 57,000 fans and was hailed as a success. The league followed it up in 2008 when it inaugurated the NHL Winter Classic as an annual event to be held on New Year's Day. The 2008 NHL Winter Classic, held in Buffalo, set an NHL attendance record of 71,217. The 2014 NHL Winter Classic, held at Michigan Stadium in Ann Arbor, Michigan, set a new NHL attendance record of 105,491. In 2011, for the first time the NHL hosted two outdoor games, the Winter Classic in Pittsburgh, and the Heritage Classic in Calgary.

Outdoor games have been held by many leagues around the world. The Swiss league 's SCL Tigers hosted SC Bern in an outdoor game to celebrate the 100th Tigers–Bern Derby in 2007. In 2009, Swedish clubs Frölunda HC and Färjestads BK played a game at Ullevi. The game broke the former European league-game record for attendance at that time with a crowd of 31,144 (beaten in February 2011 when Jokerit and HIFK played in front of 36,644 spectators). The game also broke the Swedish record crowd of 23,192, set in the same stadium in 1962. The current world record for attendance at a hockey game was set in December 2010, in an NCAA game between the same two teams that participated in the Cold War. In this game, Michigan hosted Michigan State in an event known as The Big Chill at the Big House. The game had an announced attendance of 113,411 spectators, but Guinness World Records certified the attendance as 104,173 based on tickets scanned. The record had previously been set at the opening game of the 2010 IIHF World Championship, in which the hosting Germans defeated the United States 2–1 before a then-record 77,803 fans. Although the game was held at Veltins-Arena in Gelsenkirchen, it was not technically an outdoor game, as the stadium's retractable roof was closed due to International Ice Hockey Federation regulations. In 2010, Färjestad and Frölunda again played an outdoor game against each other, this time in Karlstad. 15,274 spectators saw Färjestad win the game 5–2.

## Popularity

Outdoor games have proven to be immensely popular with fans. For the 2003 Heritage Classic, the NHL received over 900,000 requests from all over the world for a chance to buy one of the 57,167 tickets available. CBC 's Hockey Night in Canada telecast of the game drew 2.7 million viewers, a record for a regular season game for the half-century old television program. In the United States, the Winter Classics have been a ratings winner; 4.56 million people watched the 2011 Winter Classic, and the game led to a ratings win for NBC in the coveted 18–49 age group despite the fact that poor weather forced the NHL to move the start time of the game back several hours on less than a day's notice. It became the most watched NHL regular season game in the last 36 years. The games have been credited as causing increased interest in hockey in the United States. In Russia, the Kontinental Hockey League (KHL) hosted its first All-Star Game in 2009 in Moscow's Red Square. The league used the location to promote the KHL amidst the global financial crisis.

## Games

Though games have been held outdoors since the sport's earliest days, this list contains only those held since the 2001 Cold War popularized the trend of holding outdoor games as events.


D12 World

# D12 World

## Abstract

D12 World is the second studio album by American hip-hop group D12, released on April 27, 2004. The album sold 544,000 copies in its first week on the U.S. Billboard 200. The album is also the last D12 release to feature Proof before his death in 2006, and the second D12 album to feature Bugz on a track.

## Background

In memory of Bugz, who was killed prior to a concert on May 21, 1999, the group recorded the track "Good Die Young" in memory of him. The album also includes a skit entitled "Bugz '97", which is a 1997 recording of Bugz, originally taken from the song "Desperados". The group was often overshadowed by Eminem 's massive success, and as such, the group toured without him for promotion of the album (but the album still reached the top of the US Billboard chart). At the time, Eminem was busy recording Encore. Although shadowed by Eminem's success, members Bizarre and Proof managed to prevail with mildly successful solo careers following D12 World, with the releases of Hannicap Circus and Searching for Jerry Garcia, respectively, in 2005. Before the album's release, "6 in the Morning" was featured on Eminem's 2003 mixtape Straight from the Lab and was entitled "Come On In". Group member Kuniva stated in a podcast that most of Denaun's verses were recorded in his home studio as opposed to with the rest of the group, due to frequent arguments with Proof.

## Production

The album was executively produced by Eminem, who also handled most of the audio production for the album along with Denaun Porter, Dr. Dre, Essman, Hi-Tek, Kanye West, Luis Resto, Mike Elizondo, Night & Day, Red Spyda, Trackboyz and Witt & Pep. Guest appearances on the album included Obie Trice, Dina Rae, Young Zee and B-Real.

## Commercial performance

D12 World debuted at the top of the US, UK, Irish, Canadian, Australian and NZ albums charts. It debuted at number 2 in Germany and also in the top 5 in Switzerland and Norway. It debuted in the top 10 in Sweden, Denmark, France, Belgium and the Netherlands.

It sold about 544,000 records in its first week of release in the United States alone. Debuting at number one on the Billboard 200, the album ended the first five-week run of singer Usher 's best-selling album, Confessions. On the week of May 22, 2004, Usher's Confessions regained the Billboard 200's number-one spot, sending D12 World to number two. The album went on to have the best performing first-week sales for a hip hop release of that year until the release of Eminem's Encore that November. Ultimately the album was certified double platinum, having a twenty-eight week stay on the chart overall.

The album debuted at number one on the UK Albums Chart with approximately 76,666 copies sold during the first week of release. Ultimately the album was certified platinum; total sales of the album stand at 323,649 as of December 2017.

" My Band ", the first single, was also successful, reaching number one in Australia and on the US Rhythmic Top 40, the Top 5 in the UK and Germany, and Top 10 on the Billboard Hot 100.

## Critical reception

Upon release, D12 World received mixed reviews from critics. At Metacritic, which assigns a normalized rating out of 100 to reviews from mainstream critics, the album received an average score of 58, based on 13 reviews, indicating "mixed or average reviews".

## Track listing

Notes

- signifies an additional producer.

- signifies a co-producer.

- The skit "Bugz" is taken from the song "Desperados", performed by DJ Butter, Eminem, Proof, Bugz & the Almighty Dreadnaughtz.

- The song "Just Like U" does not appear on the clean version of the album.

- The song "Get My Gun" is an unlockable song in the 2006 open-world game Scarface: The World Is Yours.

- The song "Barbershop" can be found on the Barbershop 2: Back in Business soundtrack.

- The clean version of the album allows "ass" to be uncensored but few uses of the word "hell", some references to alcohol use, most references to drugs, sexual content, and violence are edited out, although all sound effects remain intact.

- The song "6 In The Morning (Come On In)" was leaked in the bootleg mixtape Straight From The Lab

Sample credits

- The song "Git Up" contains a sample from " The Name Game " by Shirley Ellis

- The song "Just Like U" contains a sample from "Sir Galahad" by Rick Wakeman.

- The song "U R the One" contains a sample from "Girl Callin'" by Chocolate Milk

- The song "Good Die Young" contains a sample from " Screen Kiss " by Thomas Dolby

- The song "Keep Talkin'" contains samples from "Tortuga" by Starwood and " Halftime " by Nas

## Personnel

- B-Real – Guest Appearance

- Steve Baughman – Mixing

- Rondell Beene – Skit

- Bizarre – Skit

- Joe Borges – Assistant

- Bugz – Skit

- Tony Campana – Engineer

- Richard Castro – Skit

- Larry Chatman – Project Coordinator

- Mike "Chav" Chavarria – Engineer

- D12 – Group

- Dr. Dre – Producer, Mixing

- Mike Elizondo – Keyboards

- Eminem – Producer, Executive Producer, Mixing, Skit

- Essman – Producer

- 50 Cent – Skit

- Brian "Big Bass" Gardener – Mastering

- Marcus Heisser – A&R

- Richard Hunt – Engineer

- Steven King – Bass, Guitar, Engineer, Mixing, Skit

- Kuniva – Skit

- Marc Labelle – A&R

- Tracy McNew – A&R

- Riggs Morales – A&R

- Night and Day – Producer

- Red Spyda – Keyboards, Producer

- Luis Resto – Keyboards, Producer

- Michael Strange – Engineer

- Obie Trice – Guest Appearance

- Sacha Waldman – Photography

- Young Zee – Skit

- Kanye West – Producer

- Paul Williams - Songwriter

- J.R. Rotem - Keyboards, Songwriter

## Charts


Oceanic carbon cycle

# Oceanic carbon cycle

## Abstract

The oceanic carbon cycle (or marine carbon cycle) is composed of processes that exchange carbon between various pools within the ocean as well as between the atmosphere, Earth interior, and the seafloor. The carbon cycle is a result of many interacting forces across multiple time and space scales that circulates carbon around the planet, ensuring that carbon is available globally. The Oceanic carbon cycle is a central process to the global carbon cycle and contains both inorganic carbon (carbon not associated with a living thing, such as carbon dioxide) and organic carbon (carbon that is, or has been, incorporated into a living thing). Part of the marine carbon cycle transforms carbon between non-living and living matter.

Three main processes (or pumps) that make up the marine carbon cycle bring atmospheric carbon dioxide (CO) into the ocean interior and distribute it through the oceans. These three pumps are: (1) the solubility pump, (2) the carbonate pump, and (3) the biological pump. The total active pool of carbon at the Earth's surface for durations of less than 10,000 years is roughly 40,000 gigatons C (Gt C, a gigaton is one billion tons, or the weight of approximately 6 million blue whales), and about 95% (~38,000 Gt C) is stored in the ocean, mostly as dissolved inorganic carbon. The speciation of dissolved inorganic carbon in the marine carbon cycle is a primary controller of acid-base chemistry in the oceans.

Earth's plants and algae (primary producers) are responsible for the largest annual carbon fluxes. Although the amount of carbon stored in marine biota (~3 Gt C) is very small compared with terrestrial vegetation (~610 GtC), the amount of carbon exchanged (the flux) by these groups is nearly equal – about 50 GtC each. Marine organisms link the carbon and oxygen cycles through processes such as photosynthesis. The marine carbon cycle is also biologically tied to the nitrogen and phosphorus cycles by a near-constant stoichiometric ratio C:N:P of 106:16:1, also known as the Redfield Ketchum Richards (RKR) ratio, which states that organisms tend to take up nitrogen and phosphorus incorporating new organic carbon. Likewise, organic matter decomposed by bacteria releases phosphorus and nitrogen.

Based on the publications of NASA, World Meteorological Association, IPCC, and International Council for the Exploration of the Sea, as well as scientists from NOAA, Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution, Scripps Institution of Oceanography, CSIRO, and Oak Ridge National Laboratory, the human impacts on the marine carbon cycle are significant. Before the Industrial Revolution, the ocean was a net source of CO to the atmosphere whereas now the majority of the carbon that enters the ocean comes from atmospheric carbon dioxide (CO). The burning of fossil fuels and production of cement have changed the balance of carbon dioxide between the atmosphere and oceans, causing acidification of the oceans. Climate change, a result of excess CO in the atmosphere, has increased the temperature of the ocean and atmosphere (global warming). The slowed rate of global warming occurring from 2000–2010 may be attributed to an observed increase in upper ocean heat content.

## Marine carbon

Carbon compounds can be distinguished as either organic or inorganic, and dissolved or particulate, depending on their composition. Organic carbon forms the backbone of key component of organic compounds such as – proteins, lipids, carbohydrates, and nucleic acids. Inorganic carbon is found primarily in simple compounds such as carbon dioxide, carbonic acid, bicarbonate, and carbonate (CO, H CO, HCO, CO respectively).

Marine carbon is further separated into particulate and dissolved phases. These pools are operationally defined by physical separation – dissolved carbon passes through a 0.2 μm filter, and particulate carbon does not.

### Inorganic carbon

There are two main types of inorganic carbon that are found in the oceans. Dissolved inorganic carbon (DIC) is made up of bicarbonate (HCO), carbonate (CO) and carbon dioxide (including both dissolved CO and carbonic acid H CO). DIC can be converted to particulate inorganic carbon (PIC) through precipitation of CaCO (biologically or abiotically). DIC can also be converted to particulate organic carbon (POC) through photosynthesis and chemoautotrophy (i.e. primary production). DIC increases with depth as organic carbon particles sink and are respired. Free oxygen decreases as DIC increases because oxygen is consumed during aerobic respiration.

Particulate inorganic carbon (PIC) is the other form of inorganic carbon found in the ocean. Most PIC is the CaCO that makes up shells of various marine organisms, but can also form in whiting events. Marine fish also excrete calcium carbonate during osmoregulation.

Some of the inorganic carbon species in the ocean, such as bicarbonate and carbonate, are major contributors to alkalinity, a natural ocean buffer that prevents drastic changes in acidity (or pH). The marine carbon cycle also affects the reaction and dissolution rates of some chemical compounds, regulates the amount of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere and Earth's temperature.

### Organic carbon

Like inorganic carbon, there are two main forms of organic carbon found in the ocean (dissolved and particulate). Dissolved organic carbon (DOC) is defined operationally as any organic molecule that can pass through a 0.2 μm filter. DOC can be converted into particulate organic carbon through heterotrophy and it can also be converted back to dissolved inorganic carbon (DIC) through respiration.

Those organic carbon molecules being captured on a filter are defined as particulate organic carbon (POC). POC is composed of organisms (dead or alive), their fecal matter, and detritus. POC can be converted to DOC through disaggregation of molecules and by exudation by phytoplankton, for example. POC is generally converted to DIC through heterotrophy and respiration.

## Marine carbon pumps

### Solubility pump

Full article: Solubility pump

The oceans store the largest pool of reactive carbon on the planet as DIC, which is introduced as a result of the dissolution of atmospheric carbon dioxide into seawater – the solubility pump. Aqueous CO, carbonic acid, bicarbonate ion, and carbonate ion concentrations comprise dissolved inorganic carbon (DIC). DIC circulates throughout the whole ocean by Thermohaline circulation, which facilitates the tremendous DIC storage capacity of the ocean. The chemical equations below show the reactions that CO undergoes after it enters the ocean and transforms into its aqueous form.

Carbonic acid rapidly dissociates into free hydrogen ion (technically, hydronium) and bicarbonate.

The free hydrogen ion meets carbonate, already present in the water from the dissolution of CaCO, and reacts to form more bicarbonate ion.

The dissolved species in the equations above, mostly bicarbonate, make up the carbonate alkalinity system, the dominant contributor to seawater alkalinity.

### Carbonate pump

The carbonate pump, sometimes called the carbonate counter pump, starts with marine organisms at the ocean's surface producing particulate inorganic carbon (PIC) in the form of calcium carbonate (calcite or aragonite, CaCO). This CaCO is what forms hard body parts like shells. The formation of these shells increases atmospheric CO due to the production of CaCO in the following reaction with simplified stoichiometry:

Coccolithophores, a nearly ubiquitous group of phytoplankton that produce shells of calcium carbonate, are the dominant contributors to the carbonate pump. Due to their abundance, coccolithophores have significant implications on carbonate chemistry, in the surface waters they inhabit and in the ocean below: they provide a large mechanism for the downward transport of CaCO. The air-sea CO flux induced by a marine biological community can be determined by the rain ratio - the proportion of carbon from calcium carbonate compared to that from organic carbon in particulate matter sinking to the ocean floor, (PIC/POC). The carbonate pump acts as a negative feedback on CO taken into the ocean by the solubility pump. It occurs with lesser magnitude than the solubility pump.

### Biological pump

Full article: Biological pump

Particulate organic carbon, created through biological production, can be exported from the upper ocean in a flux commonly termed the biological pump, or respired (equation 6) back into inorganic carbon. In the former, dissolved inorganic carbon is biologically converted into organic matter by photosynthesis (equation 5) and other forms of autotrophy that then sinks and is, in part or whole, digested by heterotrophs. Particulate organic carbon can be classified, based on how easily organisms can break them down for food, as labile, semilabile, or refractory. Photosynthesis by phytoplankton is the primary source for labile and semilabile molecules, and is the indirect source for most refractory molecules. Labile molecules are present at low concentrations outside of cells (in the picomolar range) and have half-lives of only minutes when free in the ocean. They are consumed by microbes within hours or days of production and reside in the surface oceans, where they contribute a majority of the labile carbon flux. Semilabile molecules, much more difficult to consume, are able to reach depths of hundreds of meters below the surface before being metabolized. Refractory DOM largely comprises highly conjugated molecules like Polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons or lignin. Refractory DOM can reach depths greater than 1000 m and circulates through the oceans over thousands of years. Over the course of a year, approximately 20 gigatons of photosynthetically-fixed labile and semilabile carbon is taken up by heterotrophs, whereas fewer than 0.2 gigatons of refractory carbon is consumed. Marine dissolved organic matter (DOM) can store as much carbon as the current atmospheric CO supply, but industrial processes are altering the balance of this cycle.

## Inputs

Inputs to the marine carbon cycle are numerous, but the primary contributions, on a net basis, come from the atmosphere and rivers. Hydrothermal vents generally supply carbon equal to the amount they consume.

### Atmosphere

Before the Industrial Revolution, the ocean was a source of CO to the atmosphere balancing the impact of rock weathering and terrestrial particulate organic carbon; now it has become a sink for the excess atmospheric CO. Carbon dioxide is absorbed from the atmosphere at the ocean's surface at an exchange rate which varies locally and with time but on average, the oceans have a net absorption of around 2.9 Pg (equivalent to 2.9 billion metric tonnes) of carbon from atmospheric CO per year. Because the solubility of carbon dioxide increases when temperature decreases, cold areas can contain more CO and still be in equilibrium with the atmosphere; In contrast, rising sea surface temperatures decrease the capacity of the oceans to take in carbon dioxide. The North Atlantic and Nordic oceans have the highest carbon uptake per unit area in the world, and in the North Atlantic deep convection transports approximately 197 Tg per year of non-refractory carbon to depth.

A 2020 study found significantly higher net flux of carbon into the oceans compared to previous studies. The new study used satellite data to account for small temperature differences between the surface of the ocean and the depth of a few meters where the measurements are made.

#### Carbon dioxide exchange rates between ocean and atmosphere

Ocean-atmospheric exchanges rates of CO depend on the concentration of carbon dioxide already present in both the atmosphere and the ocean, temperature, salinity, and wind speed. This exchange rate can be approximated by Henry's law and can be calculated as S = kP, where the solubility (S) of the carbon dioxide gas is proportional to the amount of gas in the atmosphere, or its partial pressure.

#### Revelle factor

Since the oceanic intake of carbon dioxide is limited, CO influx can also be described by the Revelle factor. The Revelle Factor is a ratio of the change of carbon dioxide to the change in dissolved inorganic carbon, which serves as an indicator of carbon dioxide dissolution in the mixed layer considering the solubility pump. The Revelle Factor is an expression to characterize the thermodynamic efficiency of the DIC pool to absorb CO into bicarbonate. The lower the Revelle factor, the higher the capacity for ocean water to take in carbon dioxide. While Revelle calculated a factor of around 10 in his day, in a 2004 study data showed a Revelle factor ranging from approximately 9 in low-latitude tropical regions to 15 in the southern ocean near Antarctica.

### Rivers

Rivers can also transport organic carbon to the ocean through weathering or erosion of aluminosilicate (equation 7) and carbonate rocks (equation 8) on land,

or by the decomposition of life (equation 5, e.g. plant and soil material). Rivers contribute roughly equal amounts (~0.4 GtC/yr) of DIC and DOC to the oceans. It is estimated that approximately 0.8 GtC (DIC + DOC) is transported annually from the rivers to the ocean. The rivers that flow into Chesapeake Bay (Susquehanna, Potomac, and James rivers) input approximately 0.004 Gt (6.5 x 10 moles) DIC per year. The total carbon transport of rivers represents approximately 0.02% of the total carbon in the atmosphere. Though it seems small, over long time scales (1000 to 10,000 years) the carbon that enters rivers (and therefore does not enter the atmosphere) serves as a stabilizing feedback for greenhouse warming.

## Outputs

The key outputs of the marine carbon system are particulate organic matter (POC) and calcium carbonate (PIC) preservation as well as reverse weathering. While there are regions with local loss of CO to the atmosphere and hydrothermal processes, a net loss in the cycle does not occur.

### Organic matter preservation

Sedimentation is a long-term sink for carbon in the ocean, as well as the largest loss of carbon from the oceanic system. Deep marine sediments and geologic formations are important since they provide a thorough record of life on Earth and an important source of fossil fuel. Oceanic carbon can exit the system in the form of detritus that sinks and is buried in the seafloor without being fully decomposed or dissolved. Ocean floor surface sediments account for 1.75x10 kg of carbon in the global carbon cycle At most, 4% of the particulate organic carbon from the euphotic zone in the Pacific Ocean, where light-powered primary production occurs, is buried in marine sediments. It is then implied that since there is a higher input of organic matter to the ocean than what is being buried, a large portion of it is used up or consumed within.

#### Fate of sinking organic carbon

Historically, sediments with the highest organic carbon contents were frequently found in areas with high surface water productivity or those with low bottom-water oxygen concentrations. 90% of organic carbon burial occurs in deposits of deltas and continental shelves and upper slopes; this is due partly to short exposure time because of a shorter distance to the seafloor and the composition of the organic matter that is already deposited in those environments. Organic carbon burial is also sensitive to climate patterns: the accumulation rate of organic carbon was 50% larger during the glacial maximum compared to interglacials.

#### Degradation

POC is decomposed by a series of microbe-driven processes, such as methanogenesis and sulfate reduction, before burial in the seafloor. Degradation of POC also results in microbial methane production which is the main gas hydrate on the continental margins. Lignin and pollen are inherently resistant to degradation, and some studies show that inorganic matrices may also protect organic matter. Preservation rates of organic matter depend on other interdependent variables that vary nonlinearly in time and space. Although organic matter breakdown occurs rapidly in the presence of oxygen, microbes utilizing a variety of chemical species (via redox gradients) can degrade organic matter in anoxic sediments. The burial depth at which degradation halts depends upon the sedimentation rate, the relative abundance of organic matter in the sediment, the type of organic matter being buried, and innumerable other variables. While decomposition of organic matter can occur in anoxic sediments when bacteria use oxidants other than oxygen (nitrate, sulfate, Fe), decomposition tends to end short of complete mineralization. This occurs because of preferential decomposition of labile molecules over refractile molecules.

#### Burial

Organic carbon burial is an input of energy for underground biological environments and can regulate oxygen in the atmosphere at long time-scales (> 10,000 years). Burial can only take place if organic carbon arrives to the sea floor, making continental shelves and coastal margins the main storage of organic carbon from terrestrial and oceanic primary production. Fjords, or cliffs created by glacial erosion, have also been identified as areas of significant carbon burial, with rates one hundred times greater than the ocean average. Particulate organic carbon is buried in oceanic sediments, creating a pathway between a rapidly available carbon pool in the ocean to its storage for geological timescales. Once carbon is sequestered in the seafloor, it is considered blue carbon. Burial rates can be calculated as the difference between the rate at which organic matter sinks and the rate at which it decomposes.

### Calcium carbonate preservation

The precipitation of calcium carbonate is important as it results in a loss of alkalinity as well as a release of CO (Equation 4), and therefore a change in the rate of preservation of calcium carbonate can alter the partial pressure of CO in Earth's atmosphere. CaCO is supersatured in the great majority of ocean surface waters and undersaturated at depth, meaning the shells are more likely to dissolve as they sink to ocean depths. CaCO can also be dissolved through metabolic dissolution (i.e. can be used as food and excreted) and thus deep ocean sediments have very little calcium carbonate. The precipitation and burial of calcium carbonate in the ocean removes particulate inorganic carbon from the ocean and ultimately forms limestone. On time scales greater than 500,000 years Earth's climate is moderated by the flux of carbon in and out of the lithosphere. Rocks formed in the ocean seafloor are recycled through plate tectonics back to the surface and weathered or subducted into the mantle, the carbon outgassed by volcanoes.

## Human impacts

Oceans take up 15 – 40% of anthropogenic CO, and so far roughly 40% of the carbon from fossil fuel combustion has been taken up into the oceans. Because the Revelle factor increases with increasing CO, a smaller fraction of the anthropogenic flux will be taken up by the ocean in the future. Current annual increase in atmospheric CO is approximately 4 gigatons of carbon. This induces climate change that drives carbon concentration and carbon-climate feedback processes that modifies ocean circulation and the physical and chemical properties of seawater, which alters CO uptake. Overfishing and the plastic pollution of the oceans contribute to the degraded state of the world's biggest carbon sink.

### Ocean acidification

Full article: Ocean acidification

The pH of the oceans is declining due to uptake of atmospheric CO. The rise in dissolved carbon dioxide reduces the availability of the carbonate ion, reducing CaCO saturation state, thus making it thermodynamically harder to make CaCO shell. Carbonate ions preferentially bind to hydrogen ions to form bicarbonate, thus a reduction in carbonate ion availability increases the amount of unbound hydrogen ions, and decreases the amount of bicarbonate formed (Equations 1–3). pH is a measurement of hydrogen ion concentration, where a low pH means there are more unbound hydrogen ions. pH is therefore an indicator of carbonate speciation (the format of carbon present) in the oceans and can be used to assess how healthy the ocean is.

The list of organisms that may struggle due to ocean acidification include coccolithophores and foraminifera (the base of the marine food chain in many areas), human food sources such as oysters and mussels, and perhaps the most conspicuous, a structure built by organisms – the coral reefs. Most surface water will remain supersaturated with respect to CaCO (both calcite and aragonite) for some time on current emissions trajectories, but the organisms that require carbonate will likely be replaced in many areas. Coral reefs are under pressure from overfishing, nitrate pollution, and warming waters; ocean acidification will add additional stress on these important structures.

### Iron fertilization

Full article: Iron Fertilization

Iron fertilization is a facet of geoengineering, which purposefully manipulates the Earth's climate system, typically in aspects of the carbon cycle or radiative forcing. Of current geoengineering interest is the possibility of accelerating the biological pump to increase export of carbon from the surface ocean. This increased export could theoretically remove excess carbon dioxide from the atmosphere for storage in the deep ocean. Ongoing investigations regarding artificial fertilization exist. Due to the scale of the ocean and the fast response times of heterotrophic communities to increases in primary production, it is difficult to determine whether limiting-nutrient fertilization results in an increase in carbon export. However, the majority of the community does not believe this is a reasonable or viable approach.

### Dams and reservoirs

There are over 16 million dams in the world that alter carbon transport from rivers to oceans. Using data from the Global Reservoirs and Dams database, which contains approximately 7000 reservoirs that hold 77% of the total volume of water held back by dams (8000 km), it is estimated that the delivery of carbon to the ocean has decreased by 13% since 1970 and is projected to reach 19% by 2030. The excess carbon contained in the reservoirs may emit an additional ~0.184 Gt of carbon to the atmosphere per year and an additional ~0.2 GtC will be buried in sediment. Prior to 2000, the Mississippi, the Niger, and the Ganges River basins account for 25 – 31% of all reservoir carbon burial. After 2000, the Paraná (home to 70 dams) and the Zambezi (home to the largest reservoir) River basins exceeded the burial by the Mississippi. Other large contributors to carbon burial caused by damming occur on the Danube, the Amazon, the Yangtze, the Mekong, the Yenisei, and the Tocantins Rivers.