Zero Hour (2004–…): Season 3, Episode 6 - Shootout in Marseilles - full transcript
This episode tells the story of Air France Flight 8969 which was an Air France flight that was hijacked on December 24, 1994 at Houari Boumedienne Airport in Algiers by four armed men ...
NARRATOR: Marseille,
26th of December, 1994.
(SPEAKING ARABIC)
Four hijackers, armed with machine
guns, explosives and grenades,
hold captive 173 terrified hostages.
Concealed around the airport perimeter,
an elite team of special forces
stands by to storm the plane.
The hijackers' final ultimatum is just
minutes from reaching its deadline.
(SPEAKING FRENCH)
If their demands are not met,
their deadly arsenal is enough to blow
up the plane and kill everyone on board.
As the siege nears
the end of its final hour,
one of the most savage and remarkable
rescue operations in hijack history
is about to unfold.
Air France Flight 8969
had first been hijacked at
Algiers Airport, in North Africa.
After a two-day standoff,
it was allowed to fly to Marseilles
on the south coast of France.
Here, the ordeal of 171
passengers and crew on board
is nearing its 54th hour.
(SPEAKING FRENCH)
Their lives depend on a deadly battle of
nerves being played out by four key characters.
The leader of the hijackers is
25-year-old Algerian, Abdul Abdallah Yahia,
an ex-green grocer and petty criminal.
Yahia is a member of an Algerian
Armed Islamic Group called the GIA.
Pitted against him is the
35-year-old highly trained
French Special Forces
Commander, Major Favier.
(SPEAKING FRENCH)
This is the first large scale
rescue operation he has directed.
He has concealed his troops, drawn
from the Gendarmerie Special Forces Team,
the GIGN, in the undergrowth
surrounding the plane.
He and they now await
their greatest ever challenge.
(SPEAKING FRENCH)
Caught in the middle of this
face-off are two other men.
Negotiator Alain Gehin,
Marseille's Prefect of Police,
will be the only man to talk direct
to the hijackers from the tower.
And, under the barrel of
Yahia's gun in the plane's cockpit,
is Captain Bernard Dellemme, aged 51,
one of Air France's
most experienced pilots.
He must now relay the hijackers' demands.
(SPEAKING FRENCH)
(SPEAKING FRENCH)
The hijackers' immediate
ultimatum is for water and fuel
to enable them to fly on to Paris,
where they want to hold a press conference
to broadcast their demands to the world.
If their 1700 hours deadline is not met,
the consequences could be disastrous.
(SPEAKING FRENCH)
The co-pilot onboard Air France Flight 8969
is Jean-Paul Borderie.
As the 1700 deadline nears, he
senses the hijackers' mood change.
(JEAN-PAUL BORDERIE SPEAKING FRENCH)
TRANSLATOR: They had
been patient and so they decided
that things weren't going their way,
or that they weren't
being well listened to,
or not well understood.
And so they decided to move the plane.
I felt things were going seriously
wrong and this would all finish badly.
(SNIPER 1 SPEAKING FRENCH)
NARRATOR: The GIGN forces
surrounding the plane watch helplessly
as it moves away from
them across the airfield.
(SNIPER 1 SPEAKING FRENCH)
(SPEAKING FRENCH)
The passengers and even the
two hijackers at the rear of the plane
are jolted by the sudden movement.
(SPEAKING FRENCH)
Veteran flight attendant, Claude
Burgniard, calms the passengers.
(SPEAKING FRENCH)
TRANSLATOR: The movement of the plane
was potentially dangerous for everyone.
Everyone was frightened and
you could see the mounting tension.
Neither the passengers nor the
crew knew what was going on.
The situation was out of control.
There was no real panic, but everyone
was very, very anxious and scared.
So it was an incredibly difficult moment.
NARRATOR: In the control
tower, Alain Gehin and Major Favier
try to guess the hijackers' next move.
TRANSLATOR: The movement
of the plane may seem insignificant,
but it put us in a very difficult position.
(SPEAKING FRENCH)
NARRATOR: Major Favier orders
his special forces to find new cover.
(SNIPER 1 SPEAKING FRENCH)
(YAHIA SPEAKING FRENCH)
The plane leaves the runway
and heads for the airport terminal.
The time is 16:20.
(CLOCK TICKING)
No one knows what will happen next,
but during the coming hour,
the passengers and crew,
the hijackers and the GIGN forces
will be caught in a brutal series of
events that will mark them all forever.
(CLOCK TICKING)
16:21. The pilots of
Air France Flight 8969,
with 171 passengers and crew on board,
move their aircraft on
the hijackers' orders.
(SPEAKING FRENCH)
The unexpected action
catches the lead negotiator
and the commander of the
French Special Forces by surprise.
(SNIPER 1 SPEAKING FRENCH)
(SNIPER 1 SPEAKING FRENCH)
The hijacked plane parks
near the air traffic control tower.
(SNIPER 1 SPEAKS FRENCH)
It is 53 hours since the
hijack began, in Algiers.
(SPEAKING FRENCH)
Four men dressed as uniformed security officials
boarded the plane to inspect passports.
Initially, it seemed a standard procedure.
On board Flight 8969,
twenty-one-year-old Yasmina, who
holds both French and Algerian passports,
is traveling to Paris to visit her sister.
(LOFTI SPEAKING FRENCH)
YASMINA THROUGH TRANSLATOR:
They had started checking passports,
so they came up to me
and asked me for my papers.
(SPEAKING FRENCH)
TRANSLATOR: And I said,
"Well, yes, no. It depends."
Then he asked me, "What's your name?"
(SPEAKING FRENCH)
TRANSLATOR: And he looked
at me and he said, "I can't read."
(SPEAKING FRENCH)
He had my passport in his hand and
he did this, which scared me a little.
I told him, Yasmina.
(LOFTI SPEAKING FRENCH)
NARRATOR: The sudden flash of anger is
the first sign that all is not as it seems.
(SPEAKING ARABIC)
An off-duty Algerian policeman,
believing the security
officials to be genuine,
offers to help with the passport check.
Suddenly, the truth of what is
happening becomes clear in a horrific way.
The hijackers take the
policeman to the front of the plane.
(SPEAKING FRENCH)
With a single shot,
they murder him.
The security officials are hijackers,
who now take over the plane.
(SPEAKING ARABIC)
They are members of
the Islamist group, the GIA,
a radical offshoot of the
Islamic opposition in Algeria.
In parliamentary elections
held two years before,
the Islamic Salvation Front
had won a clear majority.
But the Algerian army seized power,
robbing the party of certain victory.
The public protests turned
violent, and the radical GIA group
launched armed attacks
against the military regime.
The brutal civil war killed
thousands of innocent civilians.
The GIA also targeted
foreigners living in Algeria.
Air France Flight 8969
is now in the hands of four
dangerous and committed GIA hijackers.
(SHOUTING IN FRENCH AND ARABIC)
The standoff in Algiers
lasts more than 35 hours.
(GUNSHOT)
The hijackers execute two more passengers.
Against the unfolding horror,
the Algerian authorities give in to their
demand for the plane to take off for France.
(CLOCK TICKING)
Back in Marseilles,
just half an hour until the
hijackers' ultimatum runs out.
(GEHIN SPEAKING FRENCH)
It's 10 minutes since the plane
stopped by the control tower.
(SPEAKING FRENCH)
There has been radio silence
from the Air France cockpit.
(SPEAKING FRENCH)
(SPEAKING FRENCH)
TRANSLATOR: What's more,
in these moments of crisis,
the terrorists refused to talk.
I kept going. I continued to talk.
The situation became...
Became more and more stressful.
And as the day went on,
there were moments like that,
when we became more and more anxious.
NARRATOR: In the cabin, where the hijackers
control the passengers' every move,
Yasmina has her own strategy for survival.
TRANSLATOR: I never asked
anything. I never asked questions.
It's true that there were
lots of people asking,
"When are we going to eat?
Can we go to the bathroom?"
I asked for nothing.
I removed myself and
waited for it all to be over.
NARRATOR: Major Favier's Special Forces
scramble to secure new vantage points
to monitor the Air France jet.
(SPEAKING FRENCH)
They need a position where they can
see, but not be seen by the hijackers.
Finally, they find a perfect, hidden,
observation point on the roof of the terminal.
(BORDERIE SPEAKING FRENCH)
TRANSLATOR: I remember
that both the captain and I knew
that things had taken a turn for the worse.
That the tension was mounting and that
they were capable of executing someone.
We knew what they were capable of.
NARRATOR: Negotiator, Alain Gehin,
calls the captain continuously.
(SPEAKING FRENCH)
(GEHIN SPEAKING FRENCH)
TRANSLATOR: I tried to keep
talking, but they said virtually nothing.
I tried to keep it going.
But you knew it. Moving the plane directly
in front of the control tower was a message.
A message to say, "Okay,
we're going to finish this."
(GEHIN SPEAKING FRENCH)
NARRATOR: With still
no word from the cockpit,
Gehin's fears are hardening.
(GEHIN SPEAKING FRENCH)
TRANSLATOR: To be completely honest,
I and the others were absolutely sure that
we would see the front
door open, hear a shot,
and see the body of a
passenger fall to the ground.
(CLOCK TICKING)
NARRATOR: Now, with less than
20 minutes to go to the deadline,
Major Favier's snipers once more
have the plane under tight surveillance.
(SPEAKING FRENCH)
NARRATOR: 1700 hours is
approaching with frightening speed,
and Major Favier has hard evidence
that the passengers and
crew are in mortal danger.
Earlier in the day, the hijackers
released some elderly hostages.
They gave Favier the chilling news
the hijackers had placed explosives
in different sections of the cabin.
(SPEAKING FRENCH)
(YASMINA SPEAKING FRENCH)
TRANSLATOR: They would come
often to see us, to talk to the women,
and they'd ask tons of questions.
What they did for a living, why they
were doing what they were doing,
what they intended on doing,
why they did this or
that. Did they have kids?
They showed us pictures
of their houses, their kids.
They had well built houses.
They had families of four children.
So then they explained the
big picture to us. The ending.
What they really wanted to do.
That they wanted to fly the
plane into the Eiffel Tower.
NARRATOR: With explosives on board,
Negotiator Alain Gehin and Commander Favier
have no intention of
refueling the hijacked plane,
or letting it fly on to Paris.
Once again, Gehin tries to
engage the hijackers in dialogue,
talking about finding a
solution to the fuel problem.
Gehin continues to bluff the hijackers,
but he knows he cannot stall forever.
(SPEAKING FRENCH)
TRANSLATOR: The request for more
fuel was, obviously, out of the question.
Clearly, things were becoming
more and more complicated.
I'd run out of reasons why I
couldn't get them more fuel.
NARRATOR: As the deadline approaches,
the frustration of Yahia and
the other hijackers mounts.
(SPEAKING FRENCH)
TRANSLATOR: It all happened
very quickly. All of a sudden.
The tension was mounting.
The hijackers were well aware
that they were not getting anywhere.
(CLOCK TICKING)
NARRATOR: The captain
of the plane is at last allowed
to break the 30 minute radio silence.
(SPEAKING FRENCH)
NARRATOR: Captain
Dellemme's patience is at an end.
(SPEAKING FRENCH)
The 171 hostages wait,
fearful that any moment
might be their last.
(CLOCK TICKING)
Eight minutes to go.
There's no sign of rescue.
After more than 53 hours in the plane,
Yasmina prepares for her death.
YASMINA THROUGH
TRANSLATOR: I thought of many things.
I wrote a letter to my parents,
finished it, folded it up and
sealed it with scotch tape and then
hid it under my seat, telling myself that
whatever happened, it might be found.
(SPEAKING FRENCH)
NARRATOR: The negotiators
try to win a little more time
by delivering drinking water to the plane.
(SPEAKING FRENCH)
The hijackers move to the doors
to watch the water being delivered.
Tension mounts as the 1700
hours deadline looms closer.
(SPEAKING FRENCH)
TRANSLATOR: The captain had managed
to speak to someone in the control tower
and he explained, they're very determined.
Something's going to happen
and it won't be good. That's it.
TRANSLATOR: To use their
own words, during negotiations,
they had referred to
themselves as Soldiers of God.
They're warriors. When
they shoot, they shoot to kill.
They also have hand grenades. This shows
you're dealing with very determined people.
NARRATOR: The French
and international press stand by,
their cameras poised.
(YAHIA SPEAKING FRENCH)
Major Favier orders his men to take
up action positions, ready to attack.
(SPEAKING FRENCH)
In the cockpit, the
hijackers reinforce the threat.
(SPEAKING FRENCH)
The Commandos stand by to storm the plane.
At one point, a hijacker begins
to recite the verses of death
from the Koran.
Flight attendant Claude
Burgniard is deeply moved.
(SPEAKING ARABIC)
BURGNIARD THROUGH
TRANSLATOR: It was haunting.
It was really lovely, beautiful music.
But then the passengers told us
that what we were hearing were
verses of prayers for the dead,
and I found that a lot less beautiful.
It was terrifying.
The specter of death was all
around, even though I tried to ignore it.
NARRATOR: Throughout the day,
Commander Favier and his special forces
plan their attack.
They know that success or failure
will be measured in lives saved, or lost.
Favier plans a simultaneous attack
at the rear and front of the plane.
He would have preferred
to wait for nightfall
and launch the operation
under the cover of darkness,
but there may now be no choice.
Three teams of Commandos will
approach the plane using air stairs.
Two units will attack through
the rear doors of the aircraft
and neutralize any hijackers at the back.
Once inside, they will deploy the
emergency chutes and evacuate the hostages.
The third unit will enter
through the front of the aircraft
and confront the remaining
hijackers in the cockpit.
(SPEAKING FRENCH)
Major Favier runs through
the details once more.
(SPEAKING FRENCH)
(COMMANDER GIGN SPEAKING FRENCH)
TRANSLATOR: The idea is to
come in through the right front door
with significant force
in order to separate the cockpit
from the rest of the aircraft.
The Gendarmes that will
enter from the rear of the plane
will rapidly deploy to the front,
not only to reinforce the lead team
but also to help evacuate the hostages,
because that's their mission.
A plan quite simple to conceive of,
but very difficult to carry out.
NARRATOR: The initial role
of the GIGN snipers on the roof
is to track the movements of
the hijackers inside the plane.
They report that two are at the back.
One has put on an Air France uniform.
The other two, one of them
Yahia, are in the cockpit.
BORDERIE THROUGH TRANSLATOR:
The level of anxiety, of tension
had gone way up since the plane had moved.
We could see that they didn't know
exactly what to do to be taken seriously,
how to put more pressure
on the negotiators.
We could see the moment was coming
where they would execute someone else.
That was going to happen. There was
no question about it. That was the plan.
(CLOCK TICKING)
NARRATOR: The deadline passes.
Gehin and Favier wait.
Nothing. Just silence.
For an instant they can
breathe a sigh of relief.
Have they called the hijackers' bluff,
or is this just a momentary pause?
Either way, they know
they must prepare for action.
Yahia and the hijackers
consider killing another hostage.
(SPEAKING ARABIC)
They decide against it.
It's now eight minutes since the
deadline expired. Yahia's patience snaps.
(SPEAKING FRENCH)
(INAUDIBLE)
Co-Pilot Jean-Paul Borderie
is told to get out of the way.
(SPEAKING FRENCH)
(FIRING)
(SPEAKING FRENCH)
(SPEAKING ARABIC)
NARRATOR: Major Favier
knows his options have run out.
TRANSLATOR: Our strategy was to keep
negotiating until a serious act was committed.
A serious act would be
the execution of a hostage,
or shots fired at the control tower.
At 17:08, that's where we find ourselves.
(SPEAKING FRENCH)
After two-and-a-half days of captivity,
the danger for the 171
hostages has never been greater.
At any time, the hijackers could
spray the defenseless passengers
with deadly machine gun fire.
But if the GIGN attack and
there is a gun-fight in the cabin,
many could also die in the crossfire.
The hostages can only wait
and pray as the minutes tick by.
In the cockpit, the captain and
co-pilot wait for the hijackers' next move,
but their leader, Yahia, seems undecided.
As the flight crew brace themselves
for the inevitable showdown,
the co-pilot has another fear.
TRANSLATOR: Really, all
they had left was an execution,
because they had shot at the
tower and they had shot on the plane.
So they'd have to go
one step further than that.
I thought something will
happen. Something even worse.
They were in the cockpit and I asked them,
"What are you going to do?
"Are you going to blow up the plane?"
They said, "No, no. We're
not going to blow up the plane."
(SPEAKING FRENCH)
NARRATOR: Since the plane touched
down on French soil 14 hours earlier,
the GIGN have been on high alert.
TRANSLATOR: I left the command post.
As soon as the men saw me they knew.
This was it.
(SPEAKING FRENCH)
NARRATOR: The Commandos
wish each other luck.
Each man realizes the mission they're
about to launch could be their last.
Just two minutes after the
hijackers opened fire on the tower,
Colonel Favier launches the assault.
One hundred and seventy-one
lives hang by a thread.
(CLOCK TICKING)
Thirty men from the GIGN,
France's elite counter terrorist unit,
storm Air France Flight 8969,
hijacked with 171
passengers and crew on board.
Three teams of Commandos race for the doors
at the front and the rear of the aircraft.
As the GIGN approach their target,
the hijackers spot Favier and his men.
(SPEAKING ARABIC)
One of the hijackers races
to the rear doors of the aircraft
and starts firing at the
approaching Commandos.
(GUN FIRING)
TRANSLATOR: We hear
Kalashnikov hits on the metal stairs.
It goes ting, ting, ting.
We look at each other and say, "We're not
even in yet and they're already shooting."
We're totally concentrated.
This isn't going to be easy.
It's going to be hot. Very hot.
(GUNS FIRING)
(SPEAKING ARABIC)
NARRATOR: As the
Commandos close in on the plane,
the rescue attempt is broadcast
live on French television.
YASMINA THROUGH TRANSLATOR:
It was terribly difficult for my parents.
In retrospect, I was
thinking about my parents,
but it never occurred to me.
It didn't ever cross my mind,
that they'd have to watch
the whole thing live on TV.
BURGNIARD THROUGH TRANSLATOR:
Honestly, when I saw the GIGN arrive,
it was a complete surprise.
Something I had worried
about for a long time,
but when it happened I
was absolutely stunned.
(SPEAKING ARABIC)
NARRATOR: The lead
Commando shoots one hijacker
and kills Yahia before
he himself falls wounded.
The two surviving hijackers spray
bullets through the galley's thin walls.
The GIGN Commandos fire cautiously
to avoid injuring the Air France
crew trapped in the cockpit.
As Favier moves into his command
position several rows from the cockpit,
more of his men are shot and fall wounded.
Co-pilot Jean-Paul Borderie is trapped
alongside the hijackers in the cockpit.
BORDERIE THROUGH TRANSLATOR: I turned
around, two of them were still alive.
The element of surprise was over.
The trench warfare started.
NARRATOR: At the rear of the aircraft,
the GIGN had breached the doors.
Commando J is one of the first to enter.
TRANSLATOR: So we enter.
It's half light, because most of
the blinds have been pulled down.
So it's dark.
And then we yell, we scream, Gendarmerie!
Everyone, hands up!
Everyone, lie down! Gendarmerie!
Everyone, hands up! Lie down!
NARRATOR: Their mission is to
evacuate the terrified passengers
as quickly as possible.
Commando J is clearing passengers out,
when he is confronted by
a man who refuses to move.
COMMANDO J THROUGH
TRANSLATOR: I advanced about ten meters
and I see a passenger,
but the guy is frozen
so I train my laser at his head and I
tell him to lie down, hands on your head.
Lie down, hands on your head.
I can't see his hands and I say to myself,
"He's going to toss a grenade at me.
"He's going to throw a grenade. He's
going to shoot at me or take out a gun."
So I shoved him against the side of
the plane. He falls, I look at him, no gun.
I think if he had moved his
hands, I would have killed him.
He didn't do anything. He was paralyzed
with fear and I think it saved him.
(SHOUTING IN FRENCH)
NARRATOR: Major Favier's forward
team is pinned down by gunfire.
It's a difficult moment.
(SPEAKING FRENCH)
TRANSLATOR: Gunshots in very
confined spaces are very difficult to face,
even when one is trained to do so.
Next, it's the shouting, the
shouting of the hostages.
And they're not yelling, they're screaming.
Then it's the first wounded who fall
in front of you. Shot in the arms, legs,
and are lying there screaming.
And those are very dreadful situations.
NARRATOR: The hijackers are
well armed with AK47 Kalashnikovs,
pistols and sub-machine guns.
They surprise the GIGN
by lobbing deadly fragmentation
grenades into the forward galley.
(SPEAKING FRENCH)
As the firefight intensifies,
the two remaining hijackers in
the cockpit are holding their own.
In the forward cabin, six of
Major Favier's leading Commandos
have been wounded by gunfire,
grenade shrapnel, or both.
(CLOCK TICKING)
The French Special Forces are pinned down,
unable to rescue the pilot and his crew,
or their own wounded colleagues.
Flight attendant Claude Burgniard
is trapped in the forward cabin.
TRANSLATOR: We're crouched
on the ground, under fire.
There were moments of
crisis and moments of calm,
with the smell of powder, dust
from the carpet, acrid smells.
The smell was overpowering.
I think I had my eyes shut, anyway I couldn't
see anything because from the first grenade
the power went out on the plane and
there were no more lights in the interior.
In contrast to that there were
grenade flashes, stun grenades.
It was hell. It was a hell that
lasted a very, very, very long time,
and then moments of calm
and then moments of nothing.
NARRATOR: Fighting at such close quarters
tests the mettle of
Commando Philippe Bardelli.
(SPEAKING FRENCH)
TRANSLATOR: I have a very clear image
of wood chips splintered
by the terrorists' bullets.
There's lots of noise because
of the gunshots from our side,
but also from the terrorists' side.
The clatter of automatic
gunfire is very specific.
Very distinct from a Kalashnikov.
It emits a very particular sound.
BORDERIE THROUGH
TRANSLATOR: During the raid,
you try and make yourself very small.
You stop thinking and
pray nothing hits you.
It's hell in there.
It's hell because you can really
hear the bullets. You hear the shots.
You hear the gunfire.
It's a barrage of bullets everywhere and
every time you ask yourself if you'll be hit.
It's impossible and deadly.
NARRATOR: As Favier and his
unit battle the hijackers for the cockpit,
the second wave of Commandos
at the rear of the plane
take control of the passenger cabin.
The evacuation of the
passengers is in full swing.
TRANSLATOR: I was putting on my
boots, looking outside and then I heard,
"Don't move, we'll get you
out of here. Don't be scared."
I realized bullets were flying everywhere.
It was dark, but I could
see the light on the floor.
It was green and bullets were flashing by.
Within five seconds I was outside.
NARRATOR: The hijackers
throw open the cockpit door
to fire hundreds of rounds
from their machine guns.
Snipers on the roof of the terminal
wait for a chance to eliminate
the remaining hijackers,
but the co-pilot is in the line of fire.
They must wait for a clean shot.
(CLOCK TICKING)
The co-pilot weighs up
his chances of escape.
TRANSLATOR: If I leave they'll
see me and they will shoot at me.
And so it was a bit of a tricky situation.
And so I decided that the lesser
of the two evils was to escape.
I softly opened the window
so they wouldn't hear me.
And thank God they were so busy with
the GIGN who were shooting at them,
so they weren't really
paying attention to me.
There is a rope you can slide
down which normally I should use,
but I had no time for the simple reason that
finally one of them saw what I was doing.
He turned around and I was lucky,
because he was against
the wall of the cockpit
and his colleague blocked his line of fire.
And then I jumped.
NARRATOR: This is the real
film of Co-pilot Jean-Paul Borderie
falling seven meters to the tarmac below.
He shatters his elbow
and fractures his leg.
Amazingly, he somehow
manages to stumble to safety.
TRANSLATOR: It was a risk, but if they
would have seen me two seconds earlier,
they would have shot me.
NARRATOR: The co-pilot's escape
creates an opportunity for the sniper team.
NARRATOR: He frees an important
space, it's the area between him,
the co-pilot, the pilot, and the snipers.
So now there's room to take aim.
Room to shoot. And
those shots will be crucial.
(SNIPER 2 SPEAKING FRENCH)
(FAVIER SPEAKING FRENCH)
NARRATOR: The commander
gives the order to shoot to kill.
(GUNSHOT)
There is now only one
hijacker left alive in the cockpit.
Within five minutes, 169 people
are safely evacuated from the aircraft.
The GIGN assault teams
from the passenger cabin
push forward to reinforce
their beleaguered colleagues
in the front section of the cabin.
TRANSLATOR: When the two teams
arrived from the rear of the aircraft,
grenades had been thrown,
the plane is full of smoke,
there was still some shouting.
The beams from flashlights
and lasers are all over the place.
We think all the hostages are free.
NARRATOR: The rear teams
provide vital reinforcements.
(SPEAKING FRENCH)
COMMANDER GIGN THROUGH TRANSLATOR:
We can't move without reinforcements
from the Gendarmes in the back.
The determining factor will be from
the men who came up the left corridor.
NARRATOR: The most critically injured GIGN
are evacuated by their fellow Commandos.
(SPEAKING FRENCH)
I push him outside from
the right hand front door.
The other is evacuated by a colleague.
But all that is automatic. You never
leave an injured man in the line of fire.
You evacuate him but it
goes fast, really, really fast.
NARRATOR: Trapped in the
cockpit with the last hijacker
are the captain and flight engineer.
They are the only two
hostages remaining in the plane.
The GIGN toss stun grenades.
A first attempt hits the side of the
plane and explodes on the tarmac.
A second grenade enters the cockpit window.
(SPEAKING FRENCH)
But the youngest of the
hijackers refuses to give in.
Commando Bardelli takes cover.
BARDELLI THROUGH
TRANSLATOR: There's three of us.
We go down the stairs to protect ourselves.
The grenade explodes, at
the front of the right door.
NARRATOR: Commando
Bardelli knows when he reenters
the hijacker will be waiting for him.
TRANSLATOR: As I come back up, I
use the top of the stairs for protection.
I'm ready to fire, because I know very well
one of the terrorists could be there.
And as I get to the top of the stairs,
I'm staring down the barrel of his gun.
He shoots at me. I fire
back and then I'm hit.
My gun is torn out of my hand and
I fall backwards in a fire of sparks,
while dragging two of
my comrades in my fall.
I slide down the whole stairs on my back.
(PANTING)
(GUNSHOT)
(CLOCK TICKING)
NARRATOR: The last hijacker is dead,
but the battle for the
cockpit has been so intense
that it seems impossible for
the flight crew to have survived.
TRANSLATOR: The cockpit crew was missing.
The force of the violence was such I
was... I was convinced they were dead.
Convinced.
NARRATOR: The Air France
plane hijacked in Marseilles
has been stormed by
the French Special Forces.
Over 1,000 rounds have been fired.
The assault team cannot be sure the
four hijackers in the cockpit are dead.
(GUN FIRING)
(DELLEMME SPEAKING FRENCH)
(GUN FIRING)
(SPEAKING FRENCH)
NARRATOR: From the control tower,
Negotiator Alain Gehin calls
Major Favier in the plane.
(SPEAKING FRENCH)
GEHIN THROUGH TRANSLATOR:
When the captain says, "They're all dead,"
he's referring to the terrorists.
And this is an extraordinary relief.
But don't forget, that at this point
we have no idea how, how
many GIGN men we've lost.
(SPEAKING FRENCH)
NARRATOR: Despite the message,
Colonel Favier and the GIGN
move cautiously to make sure it's
not a trap set by a surviving hijacker.
(SPEAKING FRENCH)
The captain of Air France Flight
8969 emerges from the cockpit.
(SPEAKING FRENCH)
NARRATOR: Deafened
by explosions and gunfire,
the flight engineer is the last
hostage to leave the cockpit.
(SPEAKING FRENCH)
NARRATOR: At 17:35,
54 hours into the crisis,
Colonel Favier calls up the control tower.
All 171 hostages have
been saved by the GIGN,
but no one yet knows the casualty
count amongst the rescuers.
Almost a third of the 30 Commandos
who risked their lives are wounded,
some severely.
Amazingly they all survive,
including Commando Phillipe Bardelli.
He realizes even today how fortunate he is.
TRANSLATOR: It's my gun that saved my life.
One of the bullets hit the bottom of the
barrel of my gun and destroyed it completely.
It came out from the trigger,
which is how I was wounded.
My gun saved my life.
It was my weapon that saved my life,
because this kind of
ammunition that they were using
can penetrate the visor of our helmets.
That stayed with me for a long time.
For weeks and months,
I kept thinking how lucky I was that day.
NARRATOR: Four GIA
hijackers successfully drew
world attention to
the situation in Algeria.
But the civil war raged
on for another nine years.
Three innocent passengers were murdered.
The 171 hostages owe
their lives to the GIGN.
BORDERIE THROUGH TRANSLATOR: What I think
of the GIGN is that we owe them a lot.
We owe them everything.
We owe them our lives.
The passengers, the crew,
everyone, we owe them our lives.
Twenty-one-year-old Yasmina survived,
but is still haunted by her experience.
(SPEAKING FRENCH)
TRANSLATOR: I was at
work when I was told about it.
I was asked, "Did you see what
happened? Look on the Internet."
And I looked and that could have been us
when the plane smashed into the building.
I also thought about the letter
I had written for my parents.
And I thought about
how ridiculous I'd been,
thinking that they would maybe find it.
There was nothing left of that plane,
so we would have all been gone.
There would have been
nothing left of the little letter
that I had written and
hidden under the seat.
I'm not the same person as I was.
So it's true, it was hard.
It was hard,
because I've realized we were lucky.
26th of December, 1994.
(SPEAKING ARABIC)
Four hijackers, armed with machine
guns, explosives and grenades,
hold captive 173 terrified hostages.
Concealed around the airport perimeter,
an elite team of special forces
stands by to storm the plane.
The hijackers' final ultimatum is just
minutes from reaching its deadline.
(SPEAKING FRENCH)
If their demands are not met,
their deadly arsenal is enough to blow
up the plane and kill everyone on board.
As the siege nears
the end of its final hour,
one of the most savage and remarkable
rescue operations in hijack history
is about to unfold.
Air France Flight 8969
had first been hijacked at
Algiers Airport, in North Africa.
After a two-day standoff,
it was allowed to fly to Marseilles
on the south coast of France.
Here, the ordeal of 171
passengers and crew on board
is nearing its 54th hour.
(SPEAKING FRENCH)
Their lives depend on a deadly battle of
nerves being played out by four key characters.
The leader of the hijackers is
25-year-old Algerian, Abdul Abdallah Yahia,
an ex-green grocer and petty criminal.
Yahia is a member of an Algerian
Armed Islamic Group called the GIA.
Pitted against him is the
35-year-old highly trained
French Special Forces
Commander, Major Favier.
(SPEAKING FRENCH)
This is the first large scale
rescue operation he has directed.
He has concealed his troops, drawn
from the Gendarmerie Special Forces Team,
the GIGN, in the undergrowth
surrounding the plane.
He and they now await
their greatest ever challenge.
(SPEAKING FRENCH)
Caught in the middle of this
face-off are two other men.
Negotiator Alain Gehin,
Marseille's Prefect of Police,
will be the only man to talk direct
to the hijackers from the tower.
And, under the barrel of
Yahia's gun in the plane's cockpit,
is Captain Bernard Dellemme, aged 51,
one of Air France's
most experienced pilots.
He must now relay the hijackers' demands.
(SPEAKING FRENCH)
(SPEAKING FRENCH)
The hijackers' immediate
ultimatum is for water and fuel
to enable them to fly on to Paris,
where they want to hold a press conference
to broadcast their demands to the world.
If their 1700 hours deadline is not met,
the consequences could be disastrous.
(SPEAKING FRENCH)
The co-pilot onboard Air France Flight 8969
is Jean-Paul Borderie.
As the 1700 deadline nears, he
senses the hijackers' mood change.
(JEAN-PAUL BORDERIE SPEAKING FRENCH)
TRANSLATOR: They had
been patient and so they decided
that things weren't going their way,
or that they weren't
being well listened to,
or not well understood.
And so they decided to move the plane.
I felt things were going seriously
wrong and this would all finish badly.
(SNIPER 1 SPEAKING FRENCH)
NARRATOR: The GIGN forces
surrounding the plane watch helplessly
as it moves away from
them across the airfield.
(SNIPER 1 SPEAKING FRENCH)
(SPEAKING FRENCH)
The passengers and even the
two hijackers at the rear of the plane
are jolted by the sudden movement.
(SPEAKING FRENCH)
Veteran flight attendant, Claude
Burgniard, calms the passengers.
(SPEAKING FRENCH)
TRANSLATOR: The movement of the plane
was potentially dangerous for everyone.
Everyone was frightened and
you could see the mounting tension.
Neither the passengers nor the
crew knew what was going on.
The situation was out of control.
There was no real panic, but everyone
was very, very anxious and scared.
So it was an incredibly difficult moment.
NARRATOR: In the control
tower, Alain Gehin and Major Favier
try to guess the hijackers' next move.
TRANSLATOR: The movement
of the plane may seem insignificant,
but it put us in a very difficult position.
(SPEAKING FRENCH)
NARRATOR: Major Favier orders
his special forces to find new cover.
(SNIPER 1 SPEAKING FRENCH)
(YAHIA SPEAKING FRENCH)
The plane leaves the runway
and heads for the airport terminal.
The time is 16:20.
(CLOCK TICKING)
No one knows what will happen next,
but during the coming hour,
the passengers and crew,
the hijackers and the GIGN forces
will be caught in a brutal series of
events that will mark them all forever.
(CLOCK TICKING)
16:21. The pilots of
Air France Flight 8969,
with 171 passengers and crew on board,
move their aircraft on
the hijackers' orders.
(SPEAKING FRENCH)
The unexpected action
catches the lead negotiator
and the commander of the
French Special Forces by surprise.
(SNIPER 1 SPEAKING FRENCH)
(SNIPER 1 SPEAKING FRENCH)
The hijacked plane parks
near the air traffic control tower.
(SNIPER 1 SPEAKS FRENCH)
It is 53 hours since the
hijack began, in Algiers.
(SPEAKING FRENCH)
Four men dressed as uniformed security officials
boarded the plane to inspect passports.
Initially, it seemed a standard procedure.
On board Flight 8969,
twenty-one-year-old Yasmina, who
holds both French and Algerian passports,
is traveling to Paris to visit her sister.
(LOFTI SPEAKING FRENCH)
YASMINA THROUGH TRANSLATOR:
They had started checking passports,
so they came up to me
and asked me for my papers.
(SPEAKING FRENCH)
TRANSLATOR: And I said,
"Well, yes, no. It depends."
Then he asked me, "What's your name?"
(SPEAKING FRENCH)
TRANSLATOR: And he looked
at me and he said, "I can't read."
(SPEAKING FRENCH)
He had my passport in his hand and
he did this, which scared me a little.
I told him, Yasmina.
(LOFTI SPEAKING FRENCH)
NARRATOR: The sudden flash of anger is
the first sign that all is not as it seems.
(SPEAKING ARABIC)
An off-duty Algerian policeman,
believing the security
officials to be genuine,
offers to help with the passport check.
Suddenly, the truth of what is
happening becomes clear in a horrific way.
The hijackers take the
policeman to the front of the plane.
(SPEAKING FRENCH)
With a single shot,
they murder him.
The security officials are hijackers,
who now take over the plane.
(SPEAKING ARABIC)
They are members of
the Islamist group, the GIA,
a radical offshoot of the
Islamic opposition in Algeria.
In parliamentary elections
held two years before,
the Islamic Salvation Front
had won a clear majority.
But the Algerian army seized power,
robbing the party of certain victory.
The public protests turned
violent, and the radical GIA group
launched armed attacks
against the military regime.
The brutal civil war killed
thousands of innocent civilians.
The GIA also targeted
foreigners living in Algeria.
Air France Flight 8969
is now in the hands of four
dangerous and committed GIA hijackers.
(SHOUTING IN FRENCH AND ARABIC)
The standoff in Algiers
lasts more than 35 hours.
(GUNSHOT)
The hijackers execute two more passengers.
Against the unfolding horror,
the Algerian authorities give in to their
demand for the plane to take off for France.
(CLOCK TICKING)
Back in Marseilles,
just half an hour until the
hijackers' ultimatum runs out.
(GEHIN SPEAKING FRENCH)
It's 10 minutes since the plane
stopped by the control tower.
(SPEAKING FRENCH)
There has been radio silence
from the Air France cockpit.
(SPEAKING FRENCH)
(SPEAKING FRENCH)
TRANSLATOR: What's more,
in these moments of crisis,
the terrorists refused to talk.
I kept going. I continued to talk.
The situation became...
Became more and more stressful.
And as the day went on,
there were moments like that,
when we became more and more anxious.
NARRATOR: In the cabin, where the hijackers
control the passengers' every move,
Yasmina has her own strategy for survival.
TRANSLATOR: I never asked
anything. I never asked questions.
It's true that there were
lots of people asking,
"When are we going to eat?
Can we go to the bathroom?"
I asked for nothing.
I removed myself and
waited for it all to be over.
NARRATOR: Major Favier's Special Forces
scramble to secure new vantage points
to monitor the Air France jet.
(SPEAKING FRENCH)
They need a position where they can
see, but not be seen by the hijackers.
Finally, they find a perfect, hidden,
observation point on the roof of the terminal.
(BORDERIE SPEAKING FRENCH)
TRANSLATOR: I remember
that both the captain and I knew
that things had taken a turn for the worse.
That the tension was mounting and that
they were capable of executing someone.
We knew what they were capable of.
NARRATOR: Negotiator, Alain Gehin,
calls the captain continuously.
(SPEAKING FRENCH)
(GEHIN SPEAKING FRENCH)
TRANSLATOR: I tried to keep
talking, but they said virtually nothing.
I tried to keep it going.
But you knew it. Moving the plane directly
in front of the control tower was a message.
A message to say, "Okay,
we're going to finish this."
(GEHIN SPEAKING FRENCH)
NARRATOR: With still
no word from the cockpit,
Gehin's fears are hardening.
(GEHIN SPEAKING FRENCH)
TRANSLATOR: To be completely honest,
I and the others were absolutely sure that
we would see the front
door open, hear a shot,
and see the body of a
passenger fall to the ground.
(CLOCK TICKING)
NARRATOR: Now, with less than
20 minutes to go to the deadline,
Major Favier's snipers once more
have the plane under tight surveillance.
(SPEAKING FRENCH)
NARRATOR: 1700 hours is
approaching with frightening speed,
and Major Favier has hard evidence
that the passengers and
crew are in mortal danger.
Earlier in the day, the hijackers
released some elderly hostages.
They gave Favier the chilling news
the hijackers had placed explosives
in different sections of the cabin.
(SPEAKING FRENCH)
(YASMINA SPEAKING FRENCH)
TRANSLATOR: They would come
often to see us, to talk to the women,
and they'd ask tons of questions.
What they did for a living, why they
were doing what they were doing,
what they intended on doing,
why they did this or
that. Did they have kids?
They showed us pictures
of their houses, their kids.
They had well built houses.
They had families of four children.
So then they explained the
big picture to us. The ending.
What they really wanted to do.
That they wanted to fly the
plane into the Eiffel Tower.
NARRATOR: With explosives on board,
Negotiator Alain Gehin and Commander Favier
have no intention of
refueling the hijacked plane,
or letting it fly on to Paris.
Once again, Gehin tries to
engage the hijackers in dialogue,
talking about finding a
solution to the fuel problem.
Gehin continues to bluff the hijackers,
but he knows he cannot stall forever.
(SPEAKING FRENCH)
TRANSLATOR: The request for more
fuel was, obviously, out of the question.
Clearly, things were becoming
more and more complicated.
I'd run out of reasons why I
couldn't get them more fuel.
NARRATOR: As the deadline approaches,
the frustration of Yahia and
the other hijackers mounts.
(SPEAKING FRENCH)
TRANSLATOR: It all happened
very quickly. All of a sudden.
The tension was mounting.
The hijackers were well aware
that they were not getting anywhere.
(CLOCK TICKING)
NARRATOR: The captain
of the plane is at last allowed
to break the 30 minute radio silence.
(SPEAKING FRENCH)
NARRATOR: Captain
Dellemme's patience is at an end.
(SPEAKING FRENCH)
The 171 hostages wait,
fearful that any moment
might be their last.
(CLOCK TICKING)
Eight minutes to go.
There's no sign of rescue.
After more than 53 hours in the plane,
Yasmina prepares for her death.
YASMINA THROUGH
TRANSLATOR: I thought of many things.
I wrote a letter to my parents,
finished it, folded it up and
sealed it with scotch tape and then
hid it under my seat, telling myself that
whatever happened, it might be found.
(SPEAKING FRENCH)
NARRATOR: The negotiators
try to win a little more time
by delivering drinking water to the plane.
(SPEAKING FRENCH)
The hijackers move to the doors
to watch the water being delivered.
Tension mounts as the 1700
hours deadline looms closer.
(SPEAKING FRENCH)
TRANSLATOR: The captain had managed
to speak to someone in the control tower
and he explained, they're very determined.
Something's going to happen
and it won't be good. That's it.
TRANSLATOR: To use their
own words, during negotiations,
they had referred to
themselves as Soldiers of God.
They're warriors. When
they shoot, they shoot to kill.
They also have hand grenades. This shows
you're dealing with very determined people.
NARRATOR: The French
and international press stand by,
their cameras poised.
(YAHIA SPEAKING FRENCH)
Major Favier orders his men to take
up action positions, ready to attack.
(SPEAKING FRENCH)
In the cockpit, the
hijackers reinforce the threat.
(SPEAKING FRENCH)
The Commandos stand by to storm the plane.
At one point, a hijacker begins
to recite the verses of death
from the Koran.
Flight attendant Claude
Burgniard is deeply moved.
(SPEAKING ARABIC)
BURGNIARD THROUGH
TRANSLATOR: It was haunting.
It was really lovely, beautiful music.
But then the passengers told us
that what we were hearing were
verses of prayers for the dead,
and I found that a lot less beautiful.
It was terrifying.
The specter of death was all
around, even though I tried to ignore it.
NARRATOR: Throughout the day,
Commander Favier and his special forces
plan their attack.
They know that success or failure
will be measured in lives saved, or lost.
Favier plans a simultaneous attack
at the rear and front of the plane.
He would have preferred
to wait for nightfall
and launch the operation
under the cover of darkness,
but there may now be no choice.
Three teams of Commandos will
approach the plane using air stairs.
Two units will attack through
the rear doors of the aircraft
and neutralize any hijackers at the back.
Once inside, they will deploy the
emergency chutes and evacuate the hostages.
The third unit will enter
through the front of the aircraft
and confront the remaining
hijackers in the cockpit.
(SPEAKING FRENCH)
Major Favier runs through
the details once more.
(SPEAKING FRENCH)
(COMMANDER GIGN SPEAKING FRENCH)
TRANSLATOR: The idea is to
come in through the right front door
with significant force
in order to separate the cockpit
from the rest of the aircraft.
The Gendarmes that will
enter from the rear of the plane
will rapidly deploy to the front,
not only to reinforce the lead team
but also to help evacuate the hostages,
because that's their mission.
A plan quite simple to conceive of,
but very difficult to carry out.
NARRATOR: The initial role
of the GIGN snipers on the roof
is to track the movements of
the hijackers inside the plane.
They report that two are at the back.
One has put on an Air France uniform.
The other two, one of them
Yahia, are in the cockpit.
BORDERIE THROUGH TRANSLATOR:
The level of anxiety, of tension
had gone way up since the plane had moved.
We could see that they didn't know
exactly what to do to be taken seriously,
how to put more pressure
on the negotiators.
We could see the moment was coming
where they would execute someone else.
That was going to happen. There was
no question about it. That was the plan.
(CLOCK TICKING)
NARRATOR: The deadline passes.
Gehin and Favier wait.
Nothing. Just silence.
For an instant they can
breathe a sigh of relief.
Have they called the hijackers' bluff,
or is this just a momentary pause?
Either way, they know
they must prepare for action.
Yahia and the hijackers
consider killing another hostage.
(SPEAKING ARABIC)
They decide against it.
It's now eight minutes since the
deadline expired. Yahia's patience snaps.
(SPEAKING FRENCH)
(INAUDIBLE)
Co-Pilot Jean-Paul Borderie
is told to get out of the way.
(SPEAKING FRENCH)
(FIRING)
(SPEAKING FRENCH)
(SPEAKING ARABIC)
NARRATOR: Major Favier
knows his options have run out.
TRANSLATOR: Our strategy was to keep
negotiating until a serious act was committed.
A serious act would be
the execution of a hostage,
or shots fired at the control tower.
At 17:08, that's where we find ourselves.
(SPEAKING FRENCH)
After two-and-a-half days of captivity,
the danger for the 171
hostages has never been greater.
At any time, the hijackers could
spray the defenseless passengers
with deadly machine gun fire.
But if the GIGN attack and
there is a gun-fight in the cabin,
many could also die in the crossfire.
The hostages can only wait
and pray as the minutes tick by.
In the cockpit, the captain and
co-pilot wait for the hijackers' next move,
but their leader, Yahia, seems undecided.
As the flight crew brace themselves
for the inevitable showdown,
the co-pilot has another fear.
TRANSLATOR: Really, all
they had left was an execution,
because they had shot at the
tower and they had shot on the plane.
So they'd have to go
one step further than that.
I thought something will
happen. Something even worse.
They were in the cockpit and I asked them,
"What are you going to do?
"Are you going to blow up the plane?"
They said, "No, no. We're
not going to blow up the plane."
(SPEAKING FRENCH)
NARRATOR: Since the plane touched
down on French soil 14 hours earlier,
the GIGN have been on high alert.
TRANSLATOR: I left the command post.
As soon as the men saw me they knew.
This was it.
(SPEAKING FRENCH)
NARRATOR: The Commandos
wish each other luck.
Each man realizes the mission they're
about to launch could be their last.
Just two minutes after the
hijackers opened fire on the tower,
Colonel Favier launches the assault.
One hundred and seventy-one
lives hang by a thread.
(CLOCK TICKING)
Thirty men from the GIGN,
France's elite counter terrorist unit,
storm Air France Flight 8969,
hijacked with 171
passengers and crew on board.
Three teams of Commandos race for the doors
at the front and the rear of the aircraft.
As the GIGN approach their target,
the hijackers spot Favier and his men.
(SPEAKING ARABIC)
One of the hijackers races
to the rear doors of the aircraft
and starts firing at the
approaching Commandos.
(GUN FIRING)
TRANSLATOR: We hear
Kalashnikov hits on the metal stairs.
It goes ting, ting, ting.
We look at each other and say, "We're not
even in yet and they're already shooting."
We're totally concentrated.
This isn't going to be easy.
It's going to be hot. Very hot.
(GUNS FIRING)
(SPEAKING ARABIC)
NARRATOR: As the
Commandos close in on the plane,
the rescue attempt is broadcast
live on French television.
YASMINA THROUGH TRANSLATOR:
It was terribly difficult for my parents.
In retrospect, I was
thinking about my parents,
but it never occurred to me.
It didn't ever cross my mind,
that they'd have to watch
the whole thing live on TV.
BURGNIARD THROUGH TRANSLATOR:
Honestly, when I saw the GIGN arrive,
it was a complete surprise.
Something I had worried
about for a long time,
but when it happened I
was absolutely stunned.
(SPEAKING ARABIC)
NARRATOR: The lead
Commando shoots one hijacker
and kills Yahia before
he himself falls wounded.
The two surviving hijackers spray
bullets through the galley's thin walls.
The GIGN Commandos fire cautiously
to avoid injuring the Air France
crew trapped in the cockpit.
As Favier moves into his command
position several rows from the cockpit,
more of his men are shot and fall wounded.
Co-pilot Jean-Paul Borderie is trapped
alongside the hijackers in the cockpit.
BORDERIE THROUGH TRANSLATOR: I turned
around, two of them were still alive.
The element of surprise was over.
The trench warfare started.
NARRATOR: At the rear of the aircraft,
the GIGN had breached the doors.
Commando J is one of the first to enter.
TRANSLATOR: So we enter.
It's half light, because most of
the blinds have been pulled down.
So it's dark.
And then we yell, we scream, Gendarmerie!
Everyone, hands up!
Everyone, lie down! Gendarmerie!
Everyone, hands up! Lie down!
NARRATOR: Their mission is to
evacuate the terrified passengers
as quickly as possible.
Commando J is clearing passengers out,
when he is confronted by
a man who refuses to move.
COMMANDO J THROUGH
TRANSLATOR: I advanced about ten meters
and I see a passenger,
but the guy is frozen
so I train my laser at his head and I
tell him to lie down, hands on your head.
Lie down, hands on your head.
I can't see his hands and I say to myself,
"He's going to toss a grenade at me.
"He's going to throw a grenade. He's
going to shoot at me or take out a gun."
So I shoved him against the side of
the plane. He falls, I look at him, no gun.
I think if he had moved his
hands, I would have killed him.
He didn't do anything. He was paralyzed
with fear and I think it saved him.
(SHOUTING IN FRENCH)
NARRATOR: Major Favier's forward
team is pinned down by gunfire.
It's a difficult moment.
(SPEAKING FRENCH)
TRANSLATOR: Gunshots in very
confined spaces are very difficult to face,
even when one is trained to do so.
Next, it's the shouting, the
shouting of the hostages.
And they're not yelling, they're screaming.
Then it's the first wounded who fall
in front of you. Shot in the arms, legs,
and are lying there screaming.
And those are very dreadful situations.
NARRATOR: The hijackers are
well armed with AK47 Kalashnikovs,
pistols and sub-machine guns.
They surprise the GIGN
by lobbing deadly fragmentation
grenades into the forward galley.
(SPEAKING FRENCH)
As the firefight intensifies,
the two remaining hijackers in
the cockpit are holding their own.
In the forward cabin, six of
Major Favier's leading Commandos
have been wounded by gunfire,
grenade shrapnel, or both.
(CLOCK TICKING)
The French Special Forces are pinned down,
unable to rescue the pilot and his crew,
or their own wounded colleagues.
Flight attendant Claude Burgniard
is trapped in the forward cabin.
TRANSLATOR: We're crouched
on the ground, under fire.
There were moments of
crisis and moments of calm,
with the smell of powder, dust
from the carpet, acrid smells.
The smell was overpowering.
I think I had my eyes shut, anyway I couldn't
see anything because from the first grenade
the power went out on the plane and
there were no more lights in the interior.
In contrast to that there were
grenade flashes, stun grenades.
It was hell. It was a hell that
lasted a very, very, very long time,
and then moments of calm
and then moments of nothing.
NARRATOR: Fighting at such close quarters
tests the mettle of
Commando Philippe Bardelli.
(SPEAKING FRENCH)
TRANSLATOR: I have a very clear image
of wood chips splintered
by the terrorists' bullets.
There's lots of noise because
of the gunshots from our side,
but also from the terrorists' side.
The clatter of automatic
gunfire is very specific.
Very distinct from a Kalashnikov.
It emits a very particular sound.
BORDERIE THROUGH
TRANSLATOR: During the raid,
you try and make yourself very small.
You stop thinking and
pray nothing hits you.
It's hell in there.
It's hell because you can really
hear the bullets. You hear the shots.
You hear the gunfire.
It's a barrage of bullets everywhere and
every time you ask yourself if you'll be hit.
It's impossible and deadly.
NARRATOR: As Favier and his
unit battle the hijackers for the cockpit,
the second wave of Commandos
at the rear of the plane
take control of the passenger cabin.
The evacuation of the
passengers is in full swing.
TRANSLATOR: I was putting on my
boots, looking outside and then I heard,
"Don't move, we'll get you
out of here. Don't be scared."
I realized bullets were flying everywhere.
It was dark, but I could
see the light on the floor.
It was green and bullets were flashing by.
Within five seconds I was outside.
NARRATOR: The hijackers
throw open the cockpit door
to fire hundreds of rounds
from their machine guns.
Snipers on the roof of the terminal
wait for a chance to eliminate
the remaining hijackers,
but the co-pilot is in the line of fire.
They must wait for a clean shot.
(CLOCK TICKING)
The co-pilot weighs up
his chances of escape.
TRANSLATOR: If I leave they'll
see me and they will shoot at me.
And so it was a bit of a tricky situation.
And so I decided that the lesser
of the two evils was to escape.
I softly opened the window
so they wouldn't hear me.
And thank God they were so busy with
the GIGN who were shooting at them,
so they weren't really
paying attention to me.
There is a rope you can slide
down which normally I should use,
but I had no time for the simple reason that
finally one of them saw what I was doing.
He turned around and I was lucky,
because he was against
the wall of the cockpit
and his colleague blocked his line of fire.
And then I jumped.
NARRATOR: This is the real
film of Co-pilot Jean-Paul Borderie
falling seven meters to the tarmac below.
He shatters his elbow
and fractures his leg.
Amazingly, he somehow
manages to stumble to safety.
TRANSLATOR: It was a risk, but if they
would have seen me two seconds earlier,
they would have shot me.
NARRATOR: The co-pilot's escape
creates an opportunity for the sniper team.
NARRATOR: He frees an important
space, it's the area between him,
the co-pilot, the pilot, and the snipers.
So now there's room to take aim.
Room to shoot. And
those shots will be crucial.
(SNIPER 2 SPEAKING FRENCH)
(FAVIER SPEAKING FRENCH)
NARRATOR: The commander
gives the order to shoot to kill.
(GUNSHOT)
There is now only one
hijacker left alive in the cockpit.
Within five minutes, 169 people
are safely evacuated from the aircraft.
The GIGN assault teams
from the passenger cabin
push forward to reinforce
their beleaguered colleagues
in the front section of the cabin.
TRANSLATOR: When the two teams
arrived from the rear of the aircraft,
grenades had been thrown,
the plane is full of smoke,
there was still some shouting.
The beams from flashlights
and lasers are all over the place.
We think all the hostages are free.
NARRATOR: The rear teams
provide vital reinforcements.
(SPEAKING FRENCH)
COMMANDER GIGN THROUGH TRANSLATOR:
We can't move without reinforcements
from the Gendarmes in the back.
The determining factor will be from
the men who came up the left corridor.
NARRATOR: The most critically injured GIGN
are evacuated by their fellow Commandos.
(SPEAKING FRENCH)
I push him outside from
the right hand front door.
The other is evacuated by a colleague.
But all that is automatic. You never
leave an injured man in the line of fire.
You evacuate him but it
goes fast, really, really fast.
NARRATOR: Trapped in the
cockpit with the last hijacker
are the captain and flight engineer.
They are the only two
hostages remaining in the plane.
The GIGN toss stun grenades.
A first attempt hits the side of the
plane and explodes on the tarmac.
A second grenade enters the cockpit window.
(SPEAKING FRENCH)
But the youngest of the
hijackers refuses to give in.
Commando Bardelli takes cover.
BARDELLI THROUGH
TRANSLATOR: There's three of us.
We go down the stairs to protect ourselves.
The grenade explodes, at
the front of the right door.
NARRATOR: Commando
Bardelli knows when he reenters
the hijacker will be waiting for him.
TRANSLATOR: As I come back up, I
use the top of the stairs for protection.
I'm ready to fire, because I know very well
one of the terrorists could be there.
And as I get to the top of the stairs,
I'm staring down the barrel of his gun.
He shoots at me. I fire
back and then I'm hit.
My gun is torn out of my hand and
I fall backwards in a fire of sparks,
while dragging two of
my comrades in my fall.
I slide down the whole stairs on my back.
(PANTING)
(GUNSHOT)
(CLOCK TICKING)
NARRATOR: The last hijacker is dead,
but the battle for the
cockpit has been so intense
that it seems impossible for
the flight crew to have survived.
TRANSLATOR: The cockpit crew was missing.
The force of the violence was such I
was... I was convinced they were dead.
Convinced.
NARRATOR: The Air France
plane hijacked in Marseilles
has been stormed by
the French Special Forces.
Over 1,000 rounds have been fired.
The assault team cannot be sure the
four hijackers in the cockpit are dead.
(GUN FIRING)
(DELLEMME SPEAKING FRENCH)
(GUN FIRING)
(SPEAKING FRENCH)
NARRATOR: From the control tower,
Negotiator Alain Gehin calls
Major Favier in the plane.
(SPEAKING FRENCH)
GEHIN THROUGH TRANSLATOR:
When the captain says, "They're all dead,"
he's referring to the terrorists.
And this is an extraordinary relief.
But don't forget, that at this point
we have no idea how, how
many GIGN men we've lost.
(SPEAKING FRENCH)
NARRATOR: Despite the message,
Colonel Favier and the GIGN
move cautiously to make sure it's
not a trap set by a surviving hijacker.
(SPEAKING FRENCH)
The captain of Air France Flight
8969 emerges from the cockpit.
(SPEAKING FRENCH)
NARRATOR: Deafened
by explosions and gunfire,
the flight engineer is the last
hostage to leave the cockpit.
(SPEAKING FRENCH)
NARRATOR: At 17:35,
54 hours into the crisis,
Colonel Favier calls up the control tower.
All 171 hostages have
been saved by the GIGN,
but no one yet knows the casualty
count amongst the rescuers.
Almost a third of the 30 Commandos
who risked their lives are wounded,
some severely.
Amazingly they all survive,
including Commando Phillipe Bardelli.
He realizes even today how fortunate he is.
TRANSLATOR: It's my gun that saved my life.
One of the bullets hit the bottom of the
barrel of my gun and destroyed it completely.
It came out from the trigger,
which is how I was wounded.
My gun saved my life.
It was my weapon that saved my life,
because this kind of
ammunition that they were using
can penetrate the visor of our helmets.
That stayed with me for a long time.
For weeks and months,
I kept thinking how lucky I was that day.
NARRATOR: Four GIA
hijackers successfully drew
world attention to
the situation in Algeria.
But the civil war raged
on for another nine years.
Three innocent passengers were murdered.
The 171 hostages owe
their lives to the GIGN.
BORDERIE THROUGH TRANSLATOR: What I think
of the GIGN is that we owe them a lot.
We owe them everything.
We owe them our lives.
The passengers, the crew,
everyone, we owe them our lives.
Twenty-one-year-old Yasmina survived,
but is still haunted by her experience.
(SPEAKING FRENCH)
TRANSLATOR: I was at
work when I was told about it.
I was asked, "Did you see what
happened? Look on the Internet."
And I looked and that could have been us
when the plane smashed into the building.
I also thought about the letter
I had written for my parents.
And I thought about
how ridiculous I'd been,
thinking that they would maybe find it.
There was nothing left of that plane,
so we would have all been gone.
There would have been
nothing left of the little letter
that I had written and
hidden under the seat.
I'm not the same person as I was.
So it's true, it was hard.
It was hard,
because I've realized we were lucky.