Jürgen Schumann

Jürgen Schumann (29 April 1940 – 16 October 1977) was a German pilot. In 1977 he was the flight captain of the Lufthansa plane Landshut when it was hijacked. He was murdered by a PLFP militant.

Life
In 1960 Schumann joined the Air Force of the Bundeswehr and began his flying career at Büchel Air Base, Germany, where in 1965 he began working for TaktLwG 33 on the Lockheed F-104 Starfighter. After his retirement as an Hauptmann (Officer) in 1968 he became a civilian pilot for the German branch of Lufthansa and was the Captain of the Lufthansa plane Landshut when it was hijacked on 13 October 1977.

On 14 October 1977 he was able to share information with the authorities about the number of hijackers on board the plane during a stopover in Dubai. Based on the interview by Dubai's defence minister (Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Prime Minister, Vice President of the UAE and Ruler of Dubai since 4 January 2006), the hijackers also learnt that the leader made Schumann kneel in the aisle, threatening to shoot him if anything were to happen. Upon landing on 16 October 1977 at Aden International Airport (in South Yemen at the time) on a sand strip near the runway (as the government had blocked all runways; the plane did not have enough fuel to reach another), Schumann left with permission from the plane's hijackers, to check the landing gear. He also used the opportunity to talk in the terminal about releasing the hostages. His last words before re-entering the aircraft were "I am going back now. I am sure they will kill me".

Afterwards he willingly returned to the aircraft. On board he was yelled at by Akache, before being shot in the head. "Mein Mann war kein Held. Als Flugkapitän hatte er die alleinige Verantwortung für seine Passagiere. In dieser Verantwortung hat er gehandelt. My husband was no hero. As Captain he had a responsibility for his passengers. On these responsibilities he acted." The Jürgen Schumann Barracks in Appen were named after him on 24 November 2021, after much discussion.