Historical footage recorded in December of 1994 shows members of the French GIGN conducting a daring raid against Flight 8969 to rescue 229 hostages that were being held captive by Algerian extremists who intended to detonate explosives inside of the plane either over the Eiffel Tower or the Tour Montparnasse.

The hijacking took place on December 24, 1994 in Algeria when four men dressed as Algerian presidential police boarded the flight armed with firearms and explosives. In Algeria, there was a standoff that lasted with the terrorists making several demands for the release of key people in their movement to establish an Islamic State in Algeria, but eventually the group would get the plane airborne and land at the Marseille Provence Airport in France.

Here, negotiations would begin anew, and eventually reach a breaking point when the terrorists opened fire on the control tower where negotiators were attempting to peacefully resolve the situation. This prompted the local GIGN force of 30 men to begin their raid on the aircraft.

During the raid, the GIGN force immediately encountered resistance in the form of small arms fire from the terrorists onboard who spotted them moving the stairs towards the door. Once in position, the GIGN team realized that the stairs they had used were too tall, and did not evenly line up with the plane's door, causing the GIGN unit some stress as they made entry.

The man you see hanging out of the side of the cockpit window is the aircraft's co-pilot, who made the decision to exit through the window when he found himself trapped in between GIGN forces and the terrorist in the cockpit. He did this to clear the line of fire and avoid being shot, which enabled GIGN snipers to begin engaging threats through the open cockpit.

In total, 9 GIGN operators were wounded in the assault, with one of them being seriously wounded. All four hijackers were killed. Three passengers were killed during the negotiations and another 13 passengers and 3 crew members were wounded during the twenty minute gunfight to reclaim the airplane.

About the Author

Josh Brooks

Josh is an American writer and former USMC machine gunner with eight years of experience in ground combat arms throughout the GWOT. He is currently based in Texas and specializes in combat footage analysis and digital marketing.Follow Josh at OfficialJoshBrooks.com