Backstory: 

In October 1977, a plane travelling from Spain was hijacked by members of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine who were seeking the release of imprisoned leaders. 

After diverting at three other airports, Rome, Larnaca, and Bahrain, the plane attempted to land at Dubai for refuelling; the hijackers wanted food, water, medical supplies and newspapers. 

HH Sheikh Mohammed, Vice President of the UAE and Ruler of Dubai, who was Minister of Defense at the time, relayed this information to the press in an interview, previously unseen, which you can see a snippet of below.

Initially refusing, Dubai authorities eventually permitted the flight to land after the hijackers threatened to kill the hostages on board.

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In the video below, HH’s calm demeanour and ability to take leadership in the tense time is clear…

This is the full clip

What happened next?

The plane managed to refuel and take off before sufficient forces were prepared to storm the plane. Five days later on October 18th, a German counter-terrorism group stormed the plane in Somalia and all 86 passengers were rescued safely.