French GIGN Elite Tactical Unit

GIGN (Groupe d'Intervention de la Gendarmerie Nationale) -

Air France Flight 8969, 1994

"Terrorists planned to crash a plane into Paris. GIGN stormed it on the runway. Zero passengers died."

STORY: December 1994. Algerian terrorists hijacked Air France Flight 8969 with 220 passengers, planning to crash it into the Eiffel Tower.

After executing three hostages in Algiers, they forced the plane to Marseille for refueling. French authorities stalled.

GIGN operators positioned around the aircraft in darkness.

At dawn, they struck.

Using mobile staircases, GIGN burst through four doors simultaneously. Inside the narrow fuselage, they engaged the terrorists in close combat.

Bullets ricocheted off metal surfaces. Passengers dove between seats. In a confined space where any mistake could kill dozens, GIGN operators made none. Nine minutes. Four dead terrorists. Every passenger rescued alive.

The operation required such precision that one GIGN operator took a bullet meant for a passenger and kept fighting.

It remains the gold standard for aircraft assaults.