A video of His Highness Sheikh Mohammed Bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice-President and Prime Minister of UAE and Ruler of Dubai, negotiating with the hijackers of a Lufthansa plane in the late 1970s has been shared on social media.
The video shows the instrumental role that Sheikh Mohammed, who was the Minister of Defence in 1977, played in saving the lives of those on board the plane. He can be seen keeping his calm in the tense situation and talking with the hijackers from the control tower. "We got the idea since they ran out of fuel this morning and threatened to kill people," he can be heard saying.
The video is an unseen footage and part of the national documents, now shared with the public.
Lufthansa Flight 181 was hijacked on 13th October 1977, during a flight from Spain by four members of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine. On board were 86 passengers and five crew, piloted by Jürgen Schumann, with co-pilot Jürgen Vietor. After 30 minutes of flight, the aircraft was hijacked by the four militants. While Dubai initially did not allow the plane to land, it was after the militants threatened to shoot the hostages that the authorities agreed. The militants asked for a supply of water, food, medicine.