On 24 February 1985 , the '' Polar 3 '' , a Dornier 228-type research airplane from the Alfred Wegener Institute was shot down by guerrillas of the Polisario Front over Western Sahara . All three crew members died . '' Polar 3 '' , together with unharmed '' Polar 2 '' , was on its way back from Antarctica and had taken off in Dakar , Senegal , to reach Arrecife , Canary Islands . The German government , which did not recognize Morocco 's claim to Western Sahara at the time and remained neutral in the conflict , heavily criticized the incident
Polar 3
Polar 3
Western Sahara War