Hamburg airport hostage drama ends after 18 hours: What we know of the incident

A high voltage drama involving an armed father who took his four-year-old daughter hostage ended after 18 hours at Hamburg airport. The father drove through a security barrier and onto the airport tarmac, where he parked under a jet with his four-year-old daughter, on Saturday night, only to give himself up to the authorities “without resistance.” According to the local police, the man was arrested and the child remain unharmed. The incident forced the suspension of several flights at the airport. Here’s a closer look. Motivated by an ongoing custody battle A gunman slammed his car past the security gates of Hamburg airport at 2 am (IST) on Saturday, firing two rounds into the air and hurling two burning bottles out of the vehicle, according to a police spokeswoman. He came to a halt near a commercial jet carrying passengers prepared to take off. He parked beneath a Turkish Airlines plane, according to local media. Police said the 35-year-old man, a Turkish citizen, had his daughter inside the car after reportedly taking her by force from the mother in an ongoing custody battle. According to Hamburg police spokesperson Sandra Levgruen, the dad did not agree with various decisions made by authorities about the custody arrangement and intended to travel to Turkey with the child. “He speaks about his life being a heap of shards,” she told German television station ZDF. [caption id=“attachment_13351822” align=“alignnone” width=“640”] A man gets out of his vehicle near an airplane with his child in his arms at Hamburg Airport, Germany. AP[/caption] Authorities stated that the man was in an “exceptional psychological situation due to custody disputes with his ex-wife” following the incident. They said he abducted their daughter after a fight, and her mother then contacted emergency services, submitting a complaint of suspected child abduction. A psychologist had been negotiating with the man for several hours. Nobody was injured during the standoff after all passengers had evacuated the airport, police said. The mother of the girl also arrived at the airport earlier on Sunday. Wanted to fly to Turkey with daughter This is not the first time the man, a Turkish citizen, has been charged with kidnapping the young child. He was questioned last year after he went to Turkey with her without permission. At that time, he had travelled to Turkey with his daughter without authorisation, but the mother was later able to bring the child back to Germany. Police didn’t give the suspect’s name in line with German privacy rules. Local media reported that the man, who parked his car next to a Turkish Airlines plane during the standoff, had demanded that he and his daughter could leave Germany and fly to Turkey. More than 100 flights were cancelled and several planes were rerouted during the hostage situation . Thousands of travellers had been affected by the standoff and hundreds were put up at hotels close by. Flight operations at the airport resumed on Sunday night, almost 24 hours after the hostage situation began. [caption id=“attachment_13351832” align=“alignnone” width=“640”] Flight operations at Hamburg airport resumed on Sunday night, almost 24 hours after the hostage situation began. AP[/caption] Hamburg mayor Peter Tschentscher expressed relief that nobody was injured. “The hostage-taking at Hamburg Airport is over after long, dramatic hours,” Tschentscher said, thanking police for their efforts. “I wish the mother, the child and her family a lot of strength to cope with these terrible experiences,” he added. Questions about airport security Thousands of travellers were affected by the suspension of air traffic, which persisted until late Sunday afternoon. “It’s annoying,” passenger Roland Kaminski told German television. “The hotels are all full. Now we’re supposed to find beds here somehow.” Seventeen aircraft planned to land in Hamburg were diverted on Saturday evening. Given the ease with which the man made his way onto the tarmac, the event has sparked more concerns about the airport’s security. “How is it possible that a father in his Audi can simply drive through a barrier and gain access to a high-security zone?” Heinrich Grosbongardt, a well-known German air traffic expert, in Der Spiegel magazine told AFP. According to Heiko Teggatz, a spokesperson of the German police union, it is “difficult to understand” why concrete blocks were used to guard Christmas markets but airports were “made safe in an amateurish manner,” reports AFP. With inputs from AP and AFP