Air France Flight 8969 was an Air France flight that was hijacked on 24 December 1994 by the Armed Islamic Group (GIA) at Algiers, where they killed three passengers, with the intention to blow up the plane over the Eiffel Tower in Paris. When the aircraft reached Marseille, the GIGN, an intervention group of the French Gendarmerie, stormed the plane and killed all four hijackers. The GIA's plan appeared to foreshadow the September 11 attacks. Thomas Sancton of TIME magazine described the event as "one of the most successful anti-terrorist operations in history."
Read more about Air France Flight 8969: The Flight, Aftermath, Passengers and Crew, The Hijackers, Dramatization
Famous quotes containing the words air, france and/or flight:
“The thundering line of battle stands,
And in the air Death moans and sings:
But Day shall clasp him with strong hands,
And Night shall fold him in soft wings.”
—Julian Grenfell (18881915)
“The law, in its majestic equality, forbids rich and poor alike to sleep under bridges, beg in the streets or steal bread.”
—Anatole France (18441924)
“What a cunning mixture of sentiment, pity, tenderness, irony surrounds adolescence, what knowing watchfulness! Young birds on their first flight are hardly so hovered around.”
—Georges Bernanos (18881948)