Psychological Care of Passengers During and After Hijacking

Abstract

This report refers to interviews with 53 of the passengers of the Lufthansa aircraft “Landshut,” liberated in 1977 in Mogadishu, Somalia and to information acquired during group-psychotherapy with 16 of these passengers. The psychological care during hijacking depends on the aim and situation of: a) the hijackers; b) the hostages; and c) the extorted.a) The hijackers are usually motivated by political aims. They feel that their crime is mitigated by their ideology. They are aware of the high risk of their undertaking and the violent counter-actions of the authorities, but they are highly motivated personally and socially. Hence, they are continually in a state of extreme expectant tension with most intensive perception and alert awareness. This activates the high intelligence they may have, but it is combined with a disturbance of their perception of reality. Usually there are several hijackers. Their communication with each other is characterized by a strong hierarchy structure, where the giving and acceptance of command is strictly defined. Their social situation is that of a “group”. The group interactions give them some relief of anxiety.b) Unlike the hijackers, the social situation of the hostages is that of a “crowd”. They have arrived at this situation by chance and usually without knowing each other personally. Since the formation of a group among the passengers would be an additional danger for the hijackers and would disturb their orientation and weaken their power, any verbal or non-verbal communication and any moving among the passengers is prohibited.