Garuda Indonesia Flight 206 was a domestic flight from Jakarta (Soekarno-Hatta) to Medan (Polonia). It was hijacked in 28 March 1981 by an Islamist extremist group that called themselves Komando Jihad. In total there were 5 hijackers, and they ordered the pilot to reroute the destination to Colombo, Srilanka. However, the pilot mentioned that the fuel wasn't enough and the jihadist then ordered the pilot to go Penang to refuel the plane.

The terrorists are from Jihad Commando group, Moslem radicals that responsible for raids on police stations, military bases, and various acts of sabotage in Indonesia from 1977-1981. In the midday, Indonesian government went on red alert. Indonesia had never dealt with serious hijacking before. The first case ever was in 1974, when a desperate Marine hijacked a domestic flight for money, then he was killed by the pilot himself. In an effort to familiarize themselves with the layout of the aircraft, later that evening the newly created Indonesian's Special Force, Kophasanda, borrowed another DC-9 from Garuda Airlines and used it for combat training.

The plan itself wasn't good. Woyla has left Malaysia after refueling, bound to Don Muang, Thailand. An old female passenger was allowed to go in Malaysia. The terrorists have declared their demand: The release of Jihad Commandos that have been imprisoned by Indonesian government, and US $ 1.5 million. They also demand a plane is prepared for the released prisoners, to an yet unspecified destination. They have bomb set on the plane. Things get harder for the Kophasanda commander. He suspects that the plane will be flown to a state in Middle East. But as the plane has been relocated from Malaysia, the step was going further for him. Also, US Ambassador has called him and told him that US really counts on him to the safety of American citizens abroad the flight. In 2100, 29th March, 35 members of Kophasanda left Indonesia in a DC-10, all wearing civilian clothes.

The terrorists are from Jihad Commando group, Moslem radicals that responsible for raids on police stations, military bases, and various acts of sabotage in Indonesia from 1977-1981. In the midday, Indonesian government went on red alert. Indonesia had never dealt with serious hijacking before. The first case ever was in 1974, when a desperate Marine hijacked a domestic flight for money, then he was killed by the pilot himself. In an effort to familiarize themselves with the layout of the aircraft, later that evening the newly created Indonesian's Special Force, Kophasanda, borrowed another DC-9 from Garuda Airlines and used it for combat training.

On 29 March 1981, a group of Indonesian Army Kopassandha (now Kopassus) commandos led by Lieutenant Colonel Sintong Panjaitan and Lieutenant General Leonardus Benjamin Moerdani were flown into Bangkok with a chartered Garuda DC-10, and stormed the plane two days later. The recapture of the plane was a joint operation between the Royal Thai Air Force commandos and Indonesia's Kopassandha commandos. The Kopassus commandos who took part in the rescue trained for only three days with new weapons. One commando, Warrant Officer Achmad Kirang was shot by the hijackers, as was the pilot, Captain Herman Rante, they both died several days later in a hospital in Bangkok. Two hijackers were killed in the resulting shootout. The rest of the hostages were released unharmed. Two of the hijackers surrendered, but one was shot and killed by the commandos. The leader was subsequently wounded after throwing a grenade that failed to explode, and was detained by the commandos.

The rest of the crew members and all passengers survived.The terrorist leader, Imran bin Muhammad Zein, was trialled after arrival and was sentenced to death by the Central Jakarta Regional Court a few weeks later.