Original subtitles

FLIGHT ATTENDANT (OVER LOUDSPEAKER):

Ladies and gentlemen, we are starting our approach.

PILOT: We lost both engines.

FLIGHT ATTENDANT (OVER LOUDSPEAKER): Put the mask

over your nose-- emergency descent.

PILOT: Mayday. Mayday.

WOMAN: Brace for impact.

MAN: That last one.

MAN: It's going to crash.

NARRATOR: A giant aircraft stands

on the tarmac at Marseilles airport in France.

It's been taken over by hijackers, who

plan to commit one of the deadliest

terrorist attacks in history.

The men are heavily armed and carry powerful explosives.

The French Prime Minister faces a terrible dilemma--

storm the plane, lose 173 passengers and crew.

But let it take off, and there will

be an even bigger price to pay.

This will become a blueprint for defeating

a terrorist hijacking.

With eyewitness testimony and video recordings,

this is the inside story of the hijacking the world forgot.

It's Christmas Eve 1994.

An Air France jet is on final approach to Algiers airport.

It's the early morning flight from Paris

to this former French colony on the north coast of Africa.

The plane is an Airbus A300, with a crew of 12 on board.

Three greens.

NARRATOR: This is no ordinary landing.

Algeria is in a state of civil war.

The area around the airport has been

the scene of fierce fighting.

There's a very real threat of missiles

being fired at the plane as it comes in to land.

INTERPRETER: The flights to Algiers

are only done by volunteers because

of the terrorist threat.

We're all aware of it.

We accept the risk.

NARRATOR: It is so dangerous that Air France,

the French state airline, has asked

its government if it really needs to continue

these flights to Algiers.

So far, there has been no reply.

100 feet.

50 feet.

20 feet.

We have pressed engage.

NARRATOR: The captain of Air France Flight 8969

is Bernard Dhellemme, a highly experienced pilot.

This is his first ever television interview.

The events are still so threatening to him that he'll

only appear in silhouette.

BERNARD DHELLEMME:

INTERPRETER: There were some security measures, like

on any other flight, and a few extra ones

since we were in Algiers.

But at my level, I had no qualms about flying there.

Even now, 10 years later, I can still say

that I like doing an Algiers.

NARRATOR: The plane will only be on the ground

for the short time it takes to clean,

refuel, and board the passengers for the return flight.

They are predominantly Algerians, but many are French.

Three years earlier, Islamic fundamentalists

had won the elections there, hoping

to install an Islamic State.

But then the military seized power

and imprisoned their leaders.

Since then, Algeria has descended into chaos.

ZAHIDA KAKACHI:

INTERPRETER: Like every other year,

I had decided to come and spend the holidays in France,

and I had a cousin with me.

I was chief stewardess at Air Algeria,

and I wouldn't take any other flight but Air Algeria

normally.

But when I arrived at the airport,

there were no seats left.

The flight was full.

But an Air France booking agent suggested that I take the Air

France flight, so I did.

At least I'd be certain of taking off.

NARRATOR: Boarding Is nearly over.

But then another sign of a fraught

security situation-- police board the plane for one

more check.

Presidential police-- you two take the rear.

Police-- nobody move, please.

Presidential police-- we're carrying out an identity check.

- All right. - No, you stay here.

We'll handle it.

It'd be best if I made an announcement.

OK, go ahead.

Ladies and gentlemen, good day.

This is your captain speaking.

There will be a short delay while the police

will come through the cabin to carry out a passport check.

Please, remain seated.

And we apologize for the inconvenience.

We should be on our way shortly.

Passport.

Passport.

CLAUDE BURGNIARD:

INTERPRETER: When they came towards us, they were armed.

And that's really unusual.

Passports, please.

NARRATOR: This unauthorized delay to Flight 8969

is making the military suspicious.

Algerian special forces, known as The Ninjas,

are already heading towards the plane.

ZAHIDA KAKACHI:

INTERPRETER: I looked outside, and I

could see the Ninjas out there, the Algerian special forces.

I said to myself, why are there so many of them?

Tarut.

ZAHIDA KAKACHI:

INTERPRETER: Tarut means infidels.

And when he said that, I knew straightaway

that they were terrorists.

There it was.

All of you, get to the back.

Hurry.

Shut that voice of Satan.

Sit down.

You two, don't move.

Nobody move.

We are not the police.

We are mujahideen.

NARRATOR: The men are not police, but terrorists.

They belong to a violent group of Muslim extremists.

They aim to force an Islamic State on Algeria

no matter what it takes.

And seizing the plane is part of that plan.

We will succeed, insha'Allah.

CLAUDE BURGNIARD:

INTERPRETER: When that happened, it was

like a rock falling, like lead.

I don't know which.

It was horrifying.

Look at this!

This is a very powerful bomb.

There are others just like it ready for a great fireworks

show in the sky.

We are the mujahedeen of the people.

God has chosen us to die and you to die with us.

NARRATOR: The leader, 25-year-old Abdul Abdullah

Yahia is a notorious killer.

There is nothing to fear.

God awaits us all in his heavenly paradise.

NARRATOR: Outside, news spreads quickly.

And reporters arrive on the scene.

In Paris, the French Prime Minister is urgently recalled

from his Christmas holiday.

It's an international crisis.

INTERPRETER: I spent the whole afternoon

on the phone trying to find out exactly what was going on.

It was pretty confused.

The Algerian authorities were determined to get tough.

And it was difficult to discuss the problem with them.

Give me your jacket, captain.

NARRATOR: Back in Algiers, the terrorists

decide to put on the flight crew's uniforms

to confuse any army snipers.

Meanwhile, in the cabin, one of the terrorists

is not happy with what he sees.

Cover your head.

Cover your head more.

You too.

INTERPRETER: Their Islamic customs

were not being respected.

Men and women sharing the same toilets, sitting next

to each other, and above all, women with their heads

uncovered, that was intolerable for Lotfi,

and it threw him into a rage.

Lotfi's character is very peculiar.

We called him "the mad man" because, really,

he was always on a knife edge.

He had fits of rage.

He was always on the brink of fury.

What he saw there in the cabin was intolerable for him.

He had to cover these women up.

NARRATOR: Now, two hours into the hijacking,

the terrorists want to talk to the Algerian military.

Yes.

You in the tower, we have taken control

of this Air France flight.

We are the armed Islamic group.

Do you hear me?

Do you understand?

Do you hear me?

What is wrong with this thing?

They don't hear me.

They couldn't hear you because you

both talked at the same time.

You have to start again.

You tell them.

Do it.

Air France 8969--

what do you want me to say?

NARRATOR: The terrorists order Captain Dhellemme

to take off for Paris.

They say they're going to hold a press conference there.

But the plane can't move.

The passenger boarding stairs are still attached.

And the Algerian authorities have parked

vehicles to block the runways.

BERNARD DHELLEMME: Air France 8969--

the passenger boarding stairs are still in place.

Please, remove them immediately.

I'll repeat it one more time.

NARRATOR: It meets with a blank refusal.

Things are starting to go wrong for the hijackers.

The Algerian strategy is to not give way on a single point.

But it's a dangerous policy, as they are soon to find out.

ABDUL ABDULLAH YAHIA: We are going to blow up the world.

We are going to blow up the plane and every one in it.

Do you hear me?

Do you hear me?

France jet at Algiers airport.

They want to leave for Paris, but

the government won't let them.

It's a stalemate for the moment.

I'll say it one more time.

Please, remove the boarding stairs

so that we can leave for Paris.

You think we are joking?

We will show you how we are joking.

We are soldiers of God.

We are ready to die.

We will show them.

NARRATOR: The terrorists are about to send a message

to the Algerian government.

During the passport check, they have

identified among the passengers an officer

of the Algerian police.

ZAHIDA KAKACHI:

INTERPRETER: Then two rows behind me,

there was a policeman.

TERRORIST: Can you come with us, please?

We need your help.

INTERPRETER: He asked the policeman to follow him.

It's crazy.

I don't know if he knew.

But he was very hesitant.

He was walking, but reluctantly because he didn't knew what

was going to happen to him.

Open the door, please.

So, please take our message to the government.

NARRATOR: Few passengers are aware of the murder,

nor are the pilots.

INTERPRETER: The first contact we were allowed with the cabin

was when a stewardess was allowed into the cockpit

to see if we wanted anything.

I said we'd like a glass of water

because it was hard to swallow, as you can imagine.

Our throats were very dry.

Just then, she whispered to me, they've

already killed a passenger.

I was dumbfounded because we had no idea.

We'd heard nothing.

NARRATOR: But the passengers are growing more concerned

about what's going on outside.

There are signs that the Algerian special forces are

preparing for an armed assault.

CLAUDE BURGNIARD THROUGH INTERPRETER :

The biggest worry that we all had was that the Ninjas,

the Algerian special forces, would attack the plane.

Things were going on inside the plane, sure.

But anything that would come from the outside

would upset things, and that scared us.

NARRATOR: As French interior minister,

Charles Pasqua knows exactly how the Ninjas operate.

CHARLES PASQUA:

INTERPRETER: They were trained by us.

We were taking a considerable risk by letting this plane stay

in Algiers because we knew that, although the Algerian forces

were perfectly capable of ending the siege,

it would have ended in a bloodbath.

NARRATOR: The Algerian military maintained their hard line.

So the terrorists are about to raise the stakes again.

Another passenger must die.

INTERPRETER: When they came for the second passenger,

we knew things were going wrong.

This passenger, he was different.

He was Vietnamese, a diplomat.

He was the real foreigner on this plane.

This passenger was not cowed by their terror,

and that must have bothered them.

NARRATOR: The Vietnamese diplomat

believes that, as an outsider, he is being released.

BERNARD DHELLEMME THROUGH INTERPRETER: The stewardess

went back to the cabin and came back with a bottle

of water and some glasses.

She served us and whispered, it's not one now.

It's two.

Immediately, I realized that we had really hit the jackpot.

NARRATOR: As the hours go by, the crew and the passengers

begin to recognize the different personalities of the four men.

INTERPRETER: To make things simpler, we gave them names.

"Yaya" gave us his name straightaway, so that was easy.

He was in charge.

He looked a little bit like a student.

He was friendly enough, very calm,

except when he flew into a rage.

And then he would act like a gangster.

Lotfi, the madman, was the one who insisted we follow

their laws, the one who was the most fanatic,

the most fundamentalist.

The third one didn't have a name.

We called him Bill.

He was a little bit simple.

We wondered what he was doing there.

And you could see him wondering the same thing.

Then finally, there was the killer.

It was he who did the shooting and who

cleaned his gun afterwards without any remorse or feeling.

I wonder if he knew what he was doing.

NARRATOR: In Algiers, it's stalemate.

Neither side is giving way.

In Paris, the French leaders are frustrated.

They believe their own special forces could bring

the hijacking to a safe end.

But the Algerians refuse to let foreign troops in to sort out

an Algerian problem.

INTERPRETER: I asked the Algerian authorities, extremely

forcefully and urgently, to let the plane take off because I

considered that it was a French plane belonging to Air France,

which, although it had on board a majority of Algerians,

had dozens of French there too.

So it was for us to solve the problem.

NARRATOR: Night falls.

Air France Flight 8969 is pinned down by spotlights.

The passengers have now been held hostage for seven hours.

Initial panic has given way to a tense calm.

Few realize that two passengers have been murdered.

The crew is working hard to defuse the situation.

Here, for instance, it's the APU--

Auxiliary Power Unit.

INTERPRETER: The role of a crew in these conditions

is to keep things calm, to earn trust,

to keep things going, which is very important.

At the start of hostage-taking, it's always violent.

You have to buy time to calm people,

to show what you're like, to find

out who they are and so on, and then try to gain their trust.

CLAUDE BURGNIARD:

INTERPRETER: There was the conversion

to Islam of two stewardesses, of whom I was one.

It was a request from the terrorists.

I don't have any disrespect for believers,

but if it could help calm the terrorists down,

then I didn't have any problem faking a conversion.

ABDUL ABDULLAH YAHIA: We are going to blow up the world.

We are going to blow up the plane and every one in it.

Do you hear me?

Do you hear me?

NARRATOR: Through the night, the threats and ultimatums

continue.

But the Algerian government will not give in.

It's a battle of wills.

After a restless night, the passengers wake up.

It's Christmas morning.

During the night, the French government

has decided to send its special forces to the island

of Mallorca, as close to Algeria as possible without being

accused of interfering.

Colonel Denis Favier was then a major

in charge of the French counterterrorist

unit, the GIGN.

Since the hijacking, it's feared that terrorists have

put a price on his head, and he doesn't

want his face to be seen.

DENIS FAVIER:

INTERPRETER: The decision was taken to send GIGN to Mallorca.

An Air France aircraft was put at our disposal,

identical in every respect to the hijacked aircraft,

as well as an experienced crew who knew the technical side,

all the details of the plane.

NARRATOR: En route to Mallorca, Major Denis Favier's men

have familiarized themselves with every detail of the A300

Airbus, with the expectation that they will get

the chance to attack the plane.

Back in Algiers, the terrorists release some passengers, mainly

women with young children or people

with serious medical conditions.

But there are still over 170 people on board,

a handful for the four young terrorists.

And the passengers are not who they thought they would be.

DENIS FAVIER:

INTERPRETER: I don't know how the terrorists

organized their business.

They certainly put a lot of thought into it.

They obviously wanted to seize a symbol of France,

and Air France is a national symbol.

But perhaps they didn't realize that in an Air

France plane at Algiers, most of the passengers

would be Algerians.

NARRATOR: 138 of the passengers are Algerian citizens.

The terrorists offer to release them, leaving only

the French nationals on board.

A gruesome indication, perhaps, of their final plan.

However, the Algerian passengers refuse to leave.

DENIS FAVIER:

INTERPRETER: It's true that in Algiers they

were going to free some of the passengers,

and they refused to get off.

I think that one of them said, if we leave,

then afterwards they're going to kill the crew.

So I'm going to stay.

I think that this man was sincere.

I can't explain it, but it was the truth.

NARRATOR: The Algerian government has another trick

up its sleeve, as they look for ways

to end the terrorist hijacking of Air France Flight 8969.

They've managed to identify the terrorist leader, Yahia,

and bring his mother to the microphone to try

to weaken her son's resolve.

Ma, I love you, but I love God more.

TERRORIST'S MOTHER: --kill your fellow Muslim.

NARRATOR: The Algerian government's tactic misfires.

It sends Yahia into a boiling rage.

They went and got my mother.

Can you imagine that, my mother?

They went and dragged my mother over here.

How many French are back there?

One man and woman.

Go get the man.

What do they think they're playing at?

What do they think they're doing?

ZAHIDA KAKACHI:

INTERPRETER: He was furious.

He had no intention of changing his mind.

Even the love of his mother, even his mother

couldn't do anything.

NARRATOR: Until now, the terrorists

haven't targeted any French citizens,

but their time has come.

Two staff members of the French Embassy

are on board, a secretary and a young chef.

OK, now we will teach you how to play games with us.

Are you listening to me?

You tell them that if they don't let the plane take off,

we will kill every single passenger one by one.

Tell them.

My name is Yanic Bernier.

I work at the embassy.

They're threatening to kill us.

If you do nothing, they'll start the executions.

You've got to do something and quickly, quick as you can.

We care nothing for you.

We are soldiers of God.

We'll kill him, and we'll throw him outside the door.

You can come and pick him up.

Get me a magazine.

He was terrified, Yanic.

He was looking at me, but he was terrified.

Was he pleading with me to help him?

Was he?

You two, be better off going back to your places.

Go.

INTERPRETER: I was saying to myself, no, it's not possible.

It can't happen like this.

It's not possible.

Oh.

This can't be.

NARRATOR: The Door Open warning light

confirms that the terrorists have carried out their threat.

Air France 8969--

you happy now?

See what you get when you play tough.

PHILIPPE LEGORJUS:

INTERPRETER: We witnessed at a distance

the execution of this man.

It was something we lived through with great emotion

in Paris because we were patched into the conversations

between the plane and the control tower.

NARRATOR: The French government can no

longer stand by and do nothing.

Prime Minister Balladur gets on the phone

and threatens his Algerian counterpart.

INTERPRETER: I told him that I would hold the Algerian

government responsible for what happened

and make it known to international opinion.

NARRATOR: Balladur's threat works.

The Algerian president caves in.

Finally, after 39 hours of terror,

Flight 8969 can leave for France.

But there's a problem.

All the time they've been on the ground,

the captain has kept the auxiliary power unit running.

It's a small jet engine in the tail of the plane, which

keeps the power supply going.

It uses around four tons of fuel a day.

Now, there isn't enough to reach Paris, only Marseilles on

the southern coast of France.

Navigation lights.

On.

Air conditioning packs.

NARRATOR: After two days of terror

and the death of three passengers,

flight 8969 prepares to take off for France.

The terrorists say they're going to hold

a press conference there.

The crew are relieved to be going home.

Both they and the passengers believe that whatever

the future holds, it can't be as bad as what

they're leaving behind.

CLAUDE BURGNIARD THROUGH INTERPRETER:

We have two terrorists strapped in their seats in the cockpit,

and they're so excited.

They're like kids, excited, happy.

What's more, they'd succeeded.

NARRATOR: At 3:30 in the morning on the 26th of December,

the plane approaches Marseilles airport.

They're unaware that major Denis Favier

and his French special forces have gotten

there ahead of them from Mallorca

and are now planning a showdown.

INTERPRETER: Normally you arrive on ground

that's held by the enemy.

But here, it's the enemy who is going to arrive on ground

where you are in total control.

And that's a key element in the success of the operation.

50 feet.

20 feet.

CLAUDE BURGNIARD THROUGH INTERPRETER:

For the terrorists, it's the magic moment.

We are landing in France.

We'll get fuel.

We'll get provisions to take off again and go to Paris

because that's the objective.

The airport is very dark.

There were the lights of the plane and the little car, the

follow-me car, which we follow.

And we do not go to the terminal.

NARRATOR: Captain Dhellemme is being

deliberately led away from the terminal

to a remote corner of the airfield.

Tension is very high because the French government has

received some alarming news.

INTERPRETER: While the plane was flying towards France,

we received other information, according to which

the terrorists plan to use the plane

carry out an attack on Paris.

The information was credible, and we took it seriously.

So, the decision was made that, no matter what, the plane would

not take off from Marseilles.

No matter how high the price may be,

the plane would not take off.

We picked a very precise spot for the plane to park,

and then we just played for time.

NARRATOR: The hijacking of Air France flight 8969

has now gone on for almost two days.

The French tactics will now be dictated

by major Denis Favier, commander of the French special forces,

the GIGN.

His plan is to wear the terrorists down while always

appearing conciliatory.

The French will spin out negotiations

as long as possible.

They know that Yahia and his men must be tired.

At this time we require immediate refueling.

27 tons.

CLAUDE BURGNIARD: 27 tons.

NARRATOR: The terrorists have learned from the flight crew

that 27 tons of fuel will fill the tanks,

far more than the nine tons needed for the journey

to Paris.

It appears to confirm the intelligence

report that the plane is to be used as a fire bomb.

They say it's not possible because of the killings,

because of what happened in Algiers.

It's in all the papers.

The workers who do the refueling are afraid.

They won't come near the plane.

Tell them we want to go now.

We'll do a press conference in Paris.

Air France 8969-- we'll leave for Paris right away.

They wish to hold a press conference in Paris.

They say why go to Paris while all the international press

has come here to Marseilles.

They're all here.

Why do a press conference in Paris?

There's no point.

We can't do it here on the plane.

NARRATOR: Major Favier has baited the hook.

Will Yahia bite?

Tell them we want CNN.

Tell them we want CNN.

Air France 8969--

they want to speak to CNN.

NARRATOR: The terrorists agree to a press conference

aboard the plane, little realizing that it's

all part of a clever plan.

INTERPRETER: Tactically, this press conference was important

because it enabled us to get some of the passengers

moved to the rear of the plane.

NARRATOR: The negotiators ask that the front of the plane

be cleared for the press conference.

The real reason is to create a clear area

for the French special forces when they storm the plane.

Because what the terrorists don't realize

is that the planes doors can be opened from the outside.

By now the plane has been sitting on Marseilles'

taxiway for 12 hours.

The French special forces know how many terrorists there are

and where they are.

It's believed the French special forces planted microphones

in the fuselage of the plane.

Now they're waiting for the sun to go down

to take advantage of the dark.

On the plane, they know nothing of this.

They're still waiting for the press to arrive.

Tower, 8969-- everything's ready here.

You can send the press now.

8969-- what-- what do you mean they're not ready?

No, no, no, no, no, no.

You said they were ready over an hour ago,

and you were going to get them.

Come on, there's not much time left.

There must be hundreds of journalists there.

This will be the biggest scoop of their careers.

They're up to something.

We can't stay here.

I assure you, it's--

Captain, move the plane over there.

I promise you, we'll be--

Captain, move it right now.

Do it.

Move the plane over there where the other ones are.

We'll be fine. I-- I promise.

Move the planes.

Go over there where the other ones are.

Do it.

Do it.

Let's go.

Start engines.

NARRATOR: Suddenly, all Major Favier's plans are in disarray.

Yahia, the terrorist leader, now has the initiative.

DENIS FAVIER:

INTERPRETER: Tactically for us the situation was very bad.

Our positions were based on the plane being parked at point A,

and all of a sudden it's at point B.

So we have to reorganize very quickly.

NARRATOR: Captain Dhellemme is forced

to park right at the foot of the tower, close

to the terminal and other flights.

If they blow up the plane now, the casualties

could be enormous.

Tell them it's too late now.

They won't back off, but it's too late.

It should have been done.

Tell him to fill the tanks.

We're leaving.

They have until 5 o'clock.

At 5 o'clock, we're taking off.

Tell them, captain.

Do it.

I've had it.

Do it.

Air France 8969--

NARRATOR: Major Favier is having his men

picked up as fast as possible to move to new positions.

He puts snipers on the terminal roof, where they'll

have a view of the cockpit.

He only has a few minutes to set up

his emergency plan, a cavalry charge

of passenger boarding stairs.

INTERPRETER: Three air stairs and 30 men, this is the plan.

Penetrate by the two rear doors with two teams of 11 men each

at the rear right and rear left doors,

and then a penetration by a smaller team of eight

men at the front right door to gain control of the cockpit

since we know that the terrorist leader is in the cockpit.

Our intention is to cut off the cockpit

from the rest of the plane.

NARRATOR: By 5 o'clock, no fuel has been delivered.

The authorities have no intention of allowing

the plane to take off.

INTERPRETER: 5 o'clock comes round,

and there It's the moment when Yahia has to do something.

NARRATOR: The hijackers know they are in the end game.

INTERPRETER: They discovered there was a public address,

and they started reciting verses from the Koran.

It was very difficult because it was the prayers for the dead.

We had to prepare ourselves for death.

We were going to die as martyrs.

God was waiting for us.

There was silence, and all of a sudden it was a state of panic.

to Air France Flight 8969.

The hijackers know the French negotiators

are in the control tower.

They decide to send them a message.

TERRORIST:

PHILIPPE LEGORJUS:

INTERPRETER: One of the terrorists

opened the side window of the cockpit

and hosed down the control tower.

Glass shattered all around us.

We were literally machine gunned.

BERNARD DHELLEMME THROUGH INTERPRETER:

Since we had landed in Marseilles,

there had been some moments of tension,

but nothing like what seemed to be about to happen.

We're going to succeed in our mission, captain.

Don't worry about that.

NARRATOR: Major Favier has been given

carte blanche by the French Prime

Minister Edouard Balladur.

He decides the moment has come to act.

INTERPRETER: When the terrorists started firing

with an automatic weapon on the tower,

there was danger inside the plane.

So we now had justification for an armed attack.

That attack was carried out from the air stairs,

which are mobile vehicles.

They're coming.

They're coming.

The tarut are coming.

DENIS FAVIER:

INTERPRETER: At that moment, everybody

understood, them and us, that it was

the beginning of the assault.

NARRATOR: The cavalry charge is underway.

This is actual footage of the attack.

DENIS FAVIER:

INTERPRETER: There are eight of us

on the front right air stair.

The first air stair gets to the aircraft.

There's a small problem with the height,

as it was a little bit higher than the door.

The door hits the top of the air stair, a slight step back.

The door opens.

The air stair touches the plane, and the group goes in.

CLAUDE BURGNIARD THROUGH INTERPRETER:

Then it's the apocalypse.

Get down.

Get down.

Don't move.

DENIS FAVIER THROUGH INTERPRETER: And then the group

that has gone in comes under a deluge of fire

from the terrorists who shoot at everyone who enters,

an extremely murderous fire.

There's not a moment's doubt about the nature

of this gunfire.

They are shooting to kill.

NARRATOR: At the rear of the plane,

the other two squads of Favier's men enter.

Move. Go.

Go.

Go.

CHRISTOPHE MORIN THROUGH INTERPRETER:

So I hear, hands on your head.

Don't move.

Hide.

Get down as low as you can.

I just wished to escape.

The situation we were in was extremely violent,

so I pulled the overcoat.

I had over my head so I wouldn't see

the tracer bullets whizzing past nor what was going on around.

NARRATOR: Hundreds of bullets are whistling through the air.

Grenades are exploding.

There is smoke and confusion everywhere.

BERNARD DHELLEMME THROUGH INTERPRETER:

I was in a rather bad spot, so I tried to make

myself as small as possible.

You stop breathing, and you imagine that you're hard enough

to stop the bullets.

NARRATOR: The snipers on the terminal roof

can see the terrorists in the cockpit,

but frustratingly can't get a clear shot.

The co-pilot is blocking their view.

But that problem is about to be solved.

Actual video footage shows the co-pilot, Jean-Paul Borderie

falling onto the hard concrete, yet he still manages

to stagger away to safety.

It gives the snipers the chance they've been waiting for.

Move. Go.

Go. Go.

NARRATOR: At the rear of the cabin,

the French special forces are evacuating the passengers

through a hail of gunfire.

But flight attendant Christophe Moran

finds himself unable to escape.

INTERPRETER: I tried to take with me

a woman, a passenger who had been sitting next to me.

But she was too fat.

She could not come.

So we just held hands.

NARRATOR: Unbelievably, only a few minutes

after the assault begins most of the passengers

have been rescued.

By now only one terrorist is left alive,

but he's going down fighting.

BERNARD DHELLEMME:

INTERPRETER: There was only the flight engineer

and me left in the cockpit.

We looked at each other, and there's

just this one terrorist.

He looks at us, one after the other.

His three colleagues are here dead or nearly so.

Out of spite, he could have killed both of us.

He didn't.

What more can I say?

NARRATOR: The French news footage captures

amazing scenes of the battle.

A GIGN man is blasted out of the plane by gunshots.

The final surviving terrorist holds them

at bay for almost 20 minutes.

But his time and his ammunition are running out.

INTERPRETER: The flight engineer and I looked at each other.

We knew exactly the situation we were in.

As long as there were gunshots, we knew we could die.

But once it stopped, or when we thought it had stopped,

then we said, all right, it's over.

NARRATOR: But it's not over yet for the captain

and his flight engineer.

The GIGN are not sure who are the terrorists

and how many are still alive.

Everyone is suspect.

The battle around the cockpit has

been so fierce that everyone believes

the flight crew are dead.

The French special forces suspect that any survivors

may be terrorists in disguise.

The flight engineer is hustled off the plane and handcuffed.

Get up.

Hands on top of your head.

I'm the captain of the plane.

I will get out, but not with my hands on my head.

INTERPRETER: I would never have left the cockpit with my hands

on my head.

After all I had been through, I would

not be punished like a child.

INTERPRETER: When we saw Bernard and Alain come out,

we couldn't believe it.

Alain was handcuffed, and his shirt was covered in blood.

He said, I'm deaf.

I'm deaf.

But we said, yes, but you're alive.

We told them, he's our flight engineer.

Let him go.

It was incredible.

NARRATOR: For 20 minutes the gun battle has raged

on board the crowded aircraft.

Hundreds of shots have been fired.

Numerous grenades exploded.

Yet all 173 passengers and crew have survived.

Captain Dhellemme himself escaped with bullet wounds

to his right elbow and thigh.

CHARLES PASQUA THROUGH INTERPRETER:

The crew had a specific responsibility,

to save the hostages and to safeguard the plane.

The crew in general, and the captain in particular,

they all rose to the occasion.

NARRATOR: Nine of the 30 GIGN men

have been wounded, one seriously.

DENIS FAVIER THROUGH INTERPRETER:

When I assessed the gravity

and when we learned that none were fatal,

then, yes, I could consider that the operation

overall had been a success.

NARRATOR: Out of the 161 passengers who survived

the hijacking, only a few have suffered

slight injuries, a huge relief to the French Prime Minister.

EDOUARD BALLADUR:

INTERPRETER: I cannot say that I was calm that day.

But I considered that there was no other decision

to be made than the one I took.

So the only thing that was left for me

was to hope that things would unfold well.

And as a matter of fact, they unfolded exceptionally well.

I would not have dreamed that they would go that well.

NARRATOR: It was a textbook mission,

one of the most successful anti-terrorist operations ever

carried out.

All the French special forces and the crew members

received high national honors for their courage.

Later, a former leader of the Algerian terrorist groups,

Omar Sheikh, confirmed that the plan had been to blow up

the plane over the Eiffel Tower, the symbol

of the French nation.

Hundreds might have been killed when

the plane crashed down onto the crowded streets of Paris.

They never tried again.

And the world would forget this hijacking

until seven years later.

CLAUDE BURGNIARD:

INTERPRETER: I bumped into a friend who

said a plane has crashed

into the World Trade Center.

I went home and stayed in front

of the television for 24 hours.

I couldn't move or eat or do anything.

All those images came back to me.

And I asked myself, is that what was supposed to happen to us?

INTERPRETER: I was convinced that the terrorists wanted

to crash the plane over Paris.

To them, it would have been a terrific feat.

crashing a plane on the Eiffel Tower or the Elysee Palace

would be an extraordinary feat.

CLAUDE BURGNIARD:

INTERPRETER: Above all, I kept thinking,

we had apprentice terrorists, boys who didn't understand

very well what they were doing.

But voila, they taught everyone a lesson.