The incredible true story of Lufthansa Flight 181, which was hijacked by the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine in October of 1977, and the noble efforts of stewardess Gabriele Dillmann (Nadja Uhl) to ensure the safety of the terrified passengers throughout the harrowing ordeal. When terrorists sympathetic to the cause of the German Red Army Faction seize control of the flight, German chancellor Helmut Schmidt refuses to negotiate. Meanwhile, terrorist leader "Captain Martyr Mahmud" grows increasingly agitated, and the Yemeni government refuses to let the plane land on their soil. After Captain Schumann (Thomas Kretschmann) makes an emergency landing in the sand, he is brutally executed in front of the passengers by "Captain Martyr Mahmud" (Said Taghmaoui), who then forces the co-pilot to fly the plane to Somolia. Once there, counter terrorism measures quickly get underway as the passengers brace themselves for the worst.
Thomas Kretschmann
as Captain Jürgen Schumann
Nadja Uhl
as Stewardess Gabriele Dillmann
Saïd Taghmaoui
as Captain Mahmud
Christian Berkel
as Bundeskanzler Helmut Schmidt
Herbert Knaup
as Ulrich Wegener
Judith Engel
as Monika Schumann
Valerie Niehaus
as Birgitt Röhll
Jürgen Tarrach
as Hans-Jürgen Wischnewski
Franz Dinda
as Peter-Jürgen Boock
Fahri Yardım
as Michael Libal
Simon Verhoeven
as Co-Pilot Jürgen Vietor
Tobias Licht
as Hauptmann Baum
