Presiding Judge Good morning. You are Christian Lauterbach?
Lauterbach Yes, good morning.
Presiding Judge Mr Lauterbach, I have to start by instructing you as a witness that you are obliged to tell the truth here. You may add nothing and omit nothing. The punishments for false testimony are severe. You can be required to take an oath regarding your statement. Do you understand?
Lauterbach Yes.
Presiding Judge (to Stenographer) Instruction completed.
The Stenographer stamps the record accordingly.
Please state your personal details for the record.
Lauterbach My name is Christian Georg Lauterbach.
The Stenographer takes down his personal details.
Presiding Judge Speak up a little, please.
Lauterbach Yes.
Presiding Judge And you go by the name of Christian?
Lauterbach Yes.
Presiding Judge Your age last birthday please.
Lauterbach I’m forty-nine.
Presiding Judge Where do you live?
Lauterbach In Goch. It’s on the Lower Rhine.
Presiding Judge Are you related to the defendant either by birth or marriage?
Lauterbach No.
Presiding Judge Your profession?
Lauterbach Soldier.
Presiding Judge And rank?
Lauterbach Lieutenant Colonel.
Presiding Judge Thank you very much.
We have a form here from the Air Force giving their permission for you to testify. According to this you may refuse to ask answer any questions relating to state secrets. Is that correct?
Lauterbach That is the case.
Presiding Judge In the event that I or anyone else in the courtroom asks you in the course of this hearing about any state secrets and you are not permitted to answer those questions, you must draw that to our attention. You are not allowed simply to give evasive answers. Do you understand this too?
Lauterbach Yes.
Presiding Judge We are concerned with 26th May last year. Please describe the events of that day from your personal point of view.
Lauterbach I was on the duty rota as DC from 1400 hours. That’s the second shift.
Presiding Judge DC?
Lauterbach Duty Controller.
Presiding Judge As a matter of principle, Mr Lauterbach: we are in a courtroom here and not in the Air Force. The lay judges have not read the files and we are not all familiar with your terminology. You’re going to have to explain all these military terms to us. What is the task of a Duty Controller?
Lauterbach The DC is an Air Force staff officer. Do you want me to go into the technicalities?
Presiding Judge Please do.
Lauterbach German airspace is supervised by NATO. The entire air defence system is under their control. However, if an aeroplane is hijacked in German airspace, NATO’s jurisdiction ends and command is transferred to the so-called National Airspace Security Situation and Command Centre.
Presiding Judge Complicated.
Lauterbach In future it’s planned to bring everything together under one European agency, but we haven’t got that far yet.
Presiding Judge I see. So normally NATO watches over our airspace but the national defence system is activated for hijackings.
Lauterbach You can put it that way, yes.
Presiding Judge Who is employed at this command centre?
Lauterbach Staff from the Ministry of Defence, in other words Air Force personnel. They have many years’ experience monitoring airspace.
Presiding Judge And apart from them?
Lauterbach There are also officials from the Ministry of the Interior, Ministry of Transport, Construction and Urban Development and the Federal Office of Civil Protection and Disaster Assistance.
Presiding Judge How many people altogether?
Lauterbach Between sixty and sixty-five.
Presiding Judge And where is this command centre located?
Lauterbach In Uedem in North Rhine-Westphalia. Along with the NATO Combined Air Operations Centre.
Presiding Judge And that’s where you were on duty on 26th May?
Lauterbach Yes.
Presiding Judge Could you please explain to us precisely how airspace is monitored?
Lauterbach We use both primary and secondary radar. And we also have access to all the data from civil aviation security and state and federal police. We also receive any secret service information relevant to air traffic. All of this is collated to give us an overview of the situation.
Presiding Judge I see.
Lauterbach We’re constantly on the lookout for Renegade.
Presiding Judge Renegade?
Lauterbach Sorry. That refers to a civilian aircraft being pirated in the air for terrorist purposes. We call that ‘Renegade’.
Presiding Judge It sounds American.
Lauterbach It is. It’s the internationally accepted term.
Presiding Judge Very well then, Renegade. How do you find out about such a case?
Lauterbach That is the most difficult part of our job. What we do is stay in radio contact with every aircraft and look for irregularities.
Presiding Judge Such as?
Lauterbach An aeroplane going off course or the automatic recognition system being switched off or simply being unable to make radio contact.
Presiding Judge Does that happen often?
Lauterbach Usually three or four times a day. They’re hardly ever hijackings. Still, we need to check on every single one and then make a decision.
Presiding Judge I see.
Lauterbach On 26th May it was very straightforward, though.
Presiding Judge Straightforward? Why?
Lauterbach The terrorist forced the pilot to announce over the radio that he had hijacked the aeroplane.
Presiding Judge Could you be more precise, please?
Lauterbach At 19:32 we received a radio transmission from Lufthansa flight LH 2047. This was the flight from Berlin-Tegel to Munich, departing 19:20, landing 20:30. The pilot said he was being forced to read a text aloud.
Presiding Judge What was this text?
Lauterbach (reads from a sheet of paper) ‘With the grace of God, I have this plane in my power. Rejoice, community of Muslims. The crusader governments of Germany, Italy, Denmark and England have killed our brothers, now we will kill your families. You shall die as we have died.’
Presiding Judge In those precise words?
Lauterbach Yes, those were the words.
Then the pilot said that the terrorist wanted to crash the aircraft into the football stadium in Munich. He was referring to the Allianz Arena. That day there was an international match there: Germany versus England. The stadium was sold out, 70,000 spectators.
Presiding Judge You heard him say that on the radio yourself?
Lauterbach Yes. It’s recorded, all radio transmissions are saved. I put it on loudspeaker so that everyone in the room could hear.
Presiding Judge Did the terrorist reveal his identity?
Lauterbach We only found that out later. He was a suicide bomber belonging to an Al Qaeda splinter organisation.
Presiding Judge That’s not something you know from your own enquiries, is it?
Lauterbach No, from the Federal Criminal Police. And then the newspapers. As I said, that wasn’t till much later.
Presiding Judge What did you do after you’d heard what was said on the radio?
Lauterbach I informed everyone in the room.
Presiding Judge Yes, you put the message on the loudspeakers, you’ve already said that. I mean after that.
Lauterbach Right. I initiated a sequence of calls to all NATO command centres. At the same time I informed the Commander of the Air Force, Lieutentant General Radtke.
Presiding Judge Who is he?
Lauterbach He is the most senior general in the Air Force. I reported to him.
Presiding Judge Is that usual practice?
> Lauterbach Yes, and it’s in the official regulations.
Presiding Judge Go on.
Lauterbach I gave the order for the rapid reaction force to be deployed and to establish visual contact with the hijacked Lufthansa aeroplane.
Presiding Judge What is a rapid reaction force?
Lauterbach Two fighter aircraft, of the Eurofighter type.
They are on constant standby. One unit is stationed in the north, in Wittmund in East Frisia, and the other is in the south, in Neuburg on the Danube. The fighters from Wittmund were airborne at the time. It took the pilots eleven minutes to reach the Lufthansa plane.
Presiding Judge That’s very fast, isn’t it?
Lauterbach It’s normal. Our airspace isn’t that big.
Presiding Judge Fine. Who were the pilots? I mean the pilots of the rapid reaction force.
Lauterbach Major Koch and First Lieutenant Weinberger.
The rapid reaction force is generally staffed so that an older, more experienced pilot will fly together with a younger one. Major Koch is thirty-one years old, First Lieutenant Weinberger twenty-five.
Presiding Judge I see. Let’s go back to your telephone call with Lieutenant General Radtke.
Lauterbach Yes.
Presiding Judge What were his orders?
Lauterbach The first thing General Radtke wanted to know was whether the rapid reaction force already had visual contact with the pilot.
Presiding Judge What was your answer?
Lauterbach After the fighters had caught up with the Lufthansa aircraft, it was possible to establish visual contact. The officers reported being able to see a man dressed in civilian clothes in the cockpit. This man was between the pilot and co-pilot. Radio contact was no longer possible as the devices on board the Lufthansa aircraft had been switched off.
Presiding Judge And that’s what you passed on?
Lauterbach Of course.
Presiding Judge What were Radtke’s orders then?
Lauterbach To divert the Lufthansa aircraft off course and force it to land.
Presiding Judge What exactly did he say to you?
Lauterbach ‘Intervention.’ The order was ‘Intervention’. That means forcing it off course.
Presiding Judge Intervention, I see.
Lauterbach Yes. At the same time all the staff in the control centre were looking for an airfield to make a landing. We have contingency plans at certain airfields for cases like this.
Presiding Judge So you passed on the order.
Lauterbach Yes, immediately.
Presiding Judge Just that one word?
Lauterbach Yes. Military language is concise. There was no need for more.
Presiding Judge But as far as I can tell from the files, the Lufthansa plane did not react.
Lauterbach That’s right, it maintained its course.
Presiding Judge What happened next?
Lauterbach I reported this to General Radtke. And I gave him the additional details.
Presiding Judge What details?
Lauterbach That we were dealing with a Lufthansa aircraft of the Airbus A320-100/200 type. That in addition to the terrorist there were 164 people on board. How many of those belonged to the crew. Its speed. Its estimated time of impact. Those sort of things. Details.
Presiding Judge And where had you got these details from?
Lauterbach From my colleagues in civil aviation security. There were 98 men, 62 women and two children. I had the passenger list in front of me. The youngest child was just four years old, a girl.
Presiding Judge Excuse me? I couldn’t hear you.
Lauterbach I said one of the children was just four years old.
Presiding Judge Yes, well. What orders did you receive from General Radtke?
Lauterbach It took about six minutes. In a case like this General Radtke has to call the Minister of Defence and inform him of the situation. At the same time he is in contact with the Military Supreme Commander. General Radtke made the Minister of Defence a proposal: that is his duty. The Minister then decides whether he is going to follow this proposal. That is what’s written in the Aviation Security Law and in the official regulations.
Presiding Judge What did General Radtke propose?
Lauterbach For cases like this there’s a series of steps laid down in advance.
Presiding Judge Oh. And they are?
Lauterbach Step one: divert the plane. Step two: warning shots.
Presiding Judge That means?
Lauterbach The Minister orders the unit to fire warning shots.
Presiding Judge Can’t the pilots decide that for themselves?
Lauterbach To fire warning shots?
Presiding Judge Yes.
Lauterbach No, only the Minister is allowed to do that.
Presiding Judge Very well, then. Warning shots. Did you receive this order? That the pilots should now fire warning shots?
Lauterbach Yes.
Presiding Judge What happens there? These warning shots, I mean.
Lauterbach That’s going to get technical now, Your Honour.
Presiding Judge Explain anyway. We’ll do our best to follow.
Lauterbach The Eurofighter is equipped with a single-barrel gas-operated five-chamber revolver cannon made by Mauser. The weapon is mounted in the right wing. Its rate of fire is 1,700 rounds per minute, travelling at a velocity of 1,025 metres per second. Which means over four kilogrammes of ammunition is fired in 0.5 seconds. It has a range of around 1,600 metres. For airborne targets it is usually loaded with high explosive ammunition.
Presiding Judge Aha.
Lauterbach I passed the order on to the rapid reaction force. ‘Warning burst’, that’s what we call it. In military language, I mean.
Presiding Judge Who was it fired these shots?
Lauterbach Major Koch. He released a burst of fire from the on-board cannon. It’s a mixed load: tracers and conventional ammunition.
Presiding Judge Did you decide who would fire the shots?
Lauterbach No, the pilots decide that themselves. But it is customary for the senior officer to do so.
Presiding Judge The defendant, in other words.
Lauterbach That’s right.
Presiding Judge And what happened next? Would the captain of a civilian aircraft even notice the warning shots?
Lauterbach Of course. He can see the gun smoke and hear the shots. And he can see the path of the tracer bullets.
Presiding Judge Was there a reaction of any kind?
Lauterbach No. And if I may say so, warning shots like these are pretty damned impressive. It takes quite a lot not to react to them.
Presiding Judge I see. In your military experience are there any other ways of interrupting a flight?
Lauterbach You mean other than warning shots and diversion?
Presiding Judge Yes.
Lauterbach I’m afraid not.
Presiding Judge You’re afraid not.
Lauterbach Anyone else would say the same.
Presiding Judge What did you do next?
Lauterbach I reported back to General Radtke again.
Presiding Judge And then?
Lauterbach General Radtke took a couple of minutes to reply. During that time he had proposed to the Minister of Defence that the Lufthansa aircraft be shot down.
Presiding Judge And?
Lauterbach That is the final step. But the Minister of Defence rejected it.
Presiding Judge How do you know that?
Lauterbach The General told me.
Presiding Judge Did Radtke make any comment on the Minister’s decision?
Lauterbach What do you mean?
Presiding Judge Well, for example did he say, ‘Unfortunately he rejected it’? Or something like that?
Lauterbach No.
Presiding Judge Had you expected that to be the Minister’s decision?
Lauterbach Yes. We all know the views of the Federal Constitutional Court.
Presidi
ng Judge You mean the ruling which declared part of the Aviation Security Law to be unconstitutional?
Lauterbach Yes. At the time everyone in the team had talked about it.
Presiding Judge Very well. You passed that decision on to the pilots.
Lauterbach What?
Presiding Judge That they weren’t allowed to shoot.
Lauterbach Yes, of course.
Presiding Judge And what happened then?
Lauterbach Nothing.
Presiding Judge Nothing? I don’t understand.
Lauterbach Well, we just stared at the screens, there was nothing else we could do. Everyone was hoping for a miracle, I was at any rate.
Presiding Judge Did you question the General’s order or did you simply pass it on to the rapid reaction force?
Lauterbach It’s not my job to question orders.
Presiding Judge So you passed on the instructions exactly as you received them?
Lauterbach Yes.
Presiding Judge I see. I am trying to imagine the situation. You are now looking at the screens and waiting. How long did that go on, approximately?
Lauterbach Twenty-eight minutes.
Presiding Judge That long?
Lauterbach Yes.
Presiding Judge So almost half an hour.
Lauterbach Yes.
Presiding Judge And then?
Lauterbach Major Koch –
Presiding Judge The defendant?
Lauterbach He asked twice whether he had understood everything correctly.
Presiding Judge The order that he was not allowed to shoot?
Lauterbach Correct. The order to shoot the aircraft down is ‘engage’. I confirmed to him both times that no such order had been given.
Presiding Judge Did you have a clear connection? Could the defendant understand you properly?
Lauterbach Yes, he repeated it himself.
I’m sorry, could I have a glass of water please?
Presiding Judge Sergeant, a glass of water please for the witness.
The Guard brings a carafe of water and a glass.
Lauterbach Thank you.
He pours himself a glass of water and drinks.
Presiding Judge Are you ready to continue?
Lauterbach Yes.
Presiding Judge Good. So the defendant asked twice. Then what happened?
Lauterbach The next thing was Major Koch reported that the Lufthansa aircraft had begun its descent. This was confirmed by what I saw on my screen.
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