Man tried to hijack, crash Qantas plane

May 29 2003

A man armed with two sharpened wooden stakes tried to hijack and crash a Qantas domestic jet with 47 passengers aboard shortly after take-off from Melbourne today, authorities said.

The 40-year-old man stabbed two flight attendants and injured two other people before he was overpowered by crew and passengers aboard QF1737. He was in custody tonight.

Australian airport security will be reviewed after today's incident but authorities said the nation's worst aircraft hijacking attempt was not an act of terrorism.

Shocked passengers later hailed a 38-year-old male flight attendant as a hero for helping to subdue the attacker, while being stabbed in the head.

"The steward had a lot of blood on the back of his neck; he was good, very good, very brave," said passenger Joe Da Costa.

Several passengers helped restrain the would-be hijacker with plastic ties, bundling him between two seats before the flight returned to Melbourne and made an emergency landing, federal police said.

The drama erupted 10 minutes after the Boeing 717, with six crew, took off for Launceston shortly before 3pm (AEST).

Qantas CEO Geoff Dixon said the man - believed to be an Australian national - rose from his seventh row seat and proceeded towards the cockpit armed with two 15-centimetre wooden stakes.

He said the male attendant and 25-year-old female attendant suffered gashes to the head and face during the struggle to subdue the attacker.

Ambulance officers said the two were taken to the Royal Melbourne Hospital in a stable condition with facial lacerations.

Two passengers were also treated by paramedics at the scene for minor injuries.
Federal Transport Minister John Anderson said the would-be hijacker had intended to crash the aircraft.

"Very shortly after take-off ... the man started to become very threatening," he told reporters.
"(He) apparently headed for the cabin, and seemed to be intent upon trying to force a nasty outcome.

"If you call an attempt to crash an aircraft, you might call that a hijacking.

"I can only say that, on the information available to me at this point in time, it does not, although it looks like it was premeditated, it doesn't appear to have been an act of terrorism," Mr Anderson said.

Federal agent Stephen Cato confirmed the incident was a hijack attempt.

"We believe he was trying to take over the plane," Agent Cato said.

He said no motive had yet been established.

Mr Dixon said the cockpit door was locked but the plane did not have an enhanced security door, which are now being installed on all Qantas jet aircraft.

Passengers on the plane were tonight offered counselling, onward flights and accommodation.
Agent Cato said passengers who intervened and overwhelmed the man before he could get to the cockpit were "quite heroic".

Passenger Keith Charlton was among those who helped overpower the attacker.
He said he was seated in the third aisle of plane when a man in a "brown suit raced past me with his hands raised in the air".

He said the man, who was holding aloft two sharpened wooden stakes, stabbed the chief flight attendant "Greg".

"The fellow Greg, really was a hero ... if it wasn't for him we could've been in a lot of trouble," he told Sky News.

"As he was being attacked, he put his head down into the man's chest and he pushed him back down the plane.

"He had two severe injuries to his head; one was on the chin, one was on the top of his head," Mr Charlton said.

Six men then rushed to Greg's aid.

"Calm remained throughout the aircraft. There were one or two people who were quite angry about it but the aircraft was quite calm."

Mr Da Costa, of Melbourne, said the male flight attendant was covered in blood after being stabbed.

"The steward tried to confront him and that's why he got stabbed," he said.
Australian Federal Police, transport authorities and Qantas were tonight conducting separate investigations into the incident.

Mr Anderson said the man went through metal detectors at Melbourne airport which failed to pick up the sticks.

He said Australian airport security would have to be reviewed in light of the incident.
"We are at world's best practice. It may well very be that there are lessons to learn out of this for Australian aviation and international aviation," he said.

"If there's anything good to be drawn out of this very unfortunate episode it is that the safety of the aircraft and the people on it were secured."

AAP

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