plane for three days to rehearse a raid. The team was armed with new weapons, including Heckler & Koch MP5s. They set off for Thailand using a Garuda Indonesia McDonnell Douglas DC-10. On Monday, 31 March 1981, the team was ready, but the Thai government did not give permission for Indonesian forces to take over the aircraft as it was on Thai territory. In desperation, the Indonesian Strategic Intelligence Chief Benny Moerdani contacted a friend at the CIA station in Bangkok to persuade the Thai government to give permission. The Thai government finally approved the raid with the assistance of the Royal Thai Air Force Security Force Regiment (SFR). On Tuesday, 31 March, the team began the hostage-rescue operation, dividing themselves into three groups: Red Team, Blue Team, and Green Team. The Red and Blue teams were to be at the plane's rear while the Green team was to enter from the back door of the plane. Members of the Thai SFR team were positioned on the tarmac in the event hijackers tried to escape. When the Kopassus team entered the plane, the hijackers were surprised and fired at the team, but three of the hijackers were killed when the team returned fire. One of the Kopassus commandos was shot, probably by his comrades, as was the pilot, also probably by Kopassus commandos. The rest of the hostages were released unharmed. Two of the hijackers surrendered to Thai commandos, but they were extrajudicially killed by the Kopassus commandos on the plane trip back to Jakarta. Aftermath Achmad Kirang, the wounded Kopassus team member who was shot in the abdomen, died the following day on 1 April 1981 at Bhumibol Adulyadej Hospital in Bangkok. Captain Herman Rante, the plane's pilot who was shot in the crossfire, also died in Bangkok a few days later. Kirang and Rante's remains were transported from Bangkok to Jakarta, where they were both later interred in Kalibata Heroes Cemetery. The entire Kopassus team, including leader Lieutenant Colonel Sintong Panjaitan, were awarded the Bintang Sakti by the Indonesian government and were promoted. Achmad Kirang was posthumously double promoted. Garuda Indonesia continues to operate the flight number 206 as of January 2023, now serving the route between Jakarta and Yogyakarta, using a Boeing 737-800. In popular culture A film based on the incident was scheduled for production in 2014, but was cancelled. See also Air France Flight 8969