161
because the terrorists never allowed the officers to come close to the apartment. At the
airfield, the airplane used was a dummy aircraft and the personnel dressed as Lufthansa
crewmembers did not have the complete uniforms to make their plan believable. When
the men on the plane decided to abort
their portion of the plan, the rest of the operation
fell to pieces (Reeve, 2000, p. 112).
There was no diversion planned during the most critical event in the
operation—the transload from the helicopters to the airplane. The deception during this
phase should have been centered in trying to separate the terrorists from the hostages,
specifically when considering an open-air option. Overall, some deceptive measures
were considered but not synchronized properly with the
rest of the hostage rescue
principles and the overall tactical plan.
3. Biorhythm
Intelligence, Surprise + Deception, Operator’s Skill for Hostage Taker
Intelligence, Surprise + Deception, Operator’s Skill for Rescue Force
Mission
Success
Mission
Failure
St
ar
t o
f C
ris
is
St
ar
t o
f C
ris
is
Time
(hours)
50%
50%
probability
probability
of success
of success
5 Sep 1972:
5 Sep 1972:
Eight Palestinian terr or ists from the
Ei ght Palestinian terrorists from the
Bl ack September facti on assault the
Black September faction assault the
Munich Ol ympic Vill age; 11 Israeli
Munich Olympic Village; 11 Israeli
athletes are taken hosta ge
athletes are taken hostage
HIT
0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24
During the assaul t,
Duri ng the assault,
two hostages are
two hosta ges are
shot de ad
shot dead
Terrorists issue
Terror ists i ssue
demands
demands
1
1
st
st
attempt at
attempt at
nego tiati ons
negoti ations
2
2
nd
n d
attempt at
attemp t at
negotiations
negotiations
3
3
rd
rd
attempt at
attempt at
negoti ations
nego tiati ons
German authori ties
German authoriti es
attempt emergency
attempt emergency
assault; they are
assaul t; they are
compromised by
compromi sed by
news camera
news camera
person
person
German authoriti es
German authori ties
attempt delivery of
attempt deli very of
food decep tion
food decepti on
2220hrs: Terrorists
2220hrs: Terrorists
and hostages ar e
and hostages are
moved to airfield by
moved to ai rfiel d by
heli copter
helicopter
4
4
th
th
attempt at
attempt at
negotiations
negoti ations
2334hrs: Thir d helo
2334hrs: Third helo
wi th German
with German
reinfor cements lands
reinforcements lands
a mile away from the
a mile away from the
scene
scene
2232hrs: German police
2232hrs: German police
snipers open fi re
sniper s open fire
2355hrs: German armored
2355hrs: German armored
vehicles arrive at airfiel d;
vehi cles arri ve at air field;
gunner shoo ts two snipers
gunner shoots two snipers
Terrori st shoots five
Terrorist shoots five
hosta ges and throws
hostages and throws
grenade i nside his helo
gr enade inside hi s helo
2
2
nd
n d
Terr orist shoots
Terrorist shoots
four hostages and
four hostages an d
inside hi s hel o
inside his helo
Fi ve terrori sts, one
Five terrorists, one
Ger man poli ce officer ,
German police offi cer,
and all the hostag es are
and al l the hostages are
dead. Three ter rorists
dead. Three terrori sts
survive and are
survi ve and are
apprehended
apprehended
Figure 43.
Author’s Representation of the Munich Olympics Biorhythm