By Paul clough, Solicitor 

Recently, Perth Airport was shut down whilst the ‘authorities’ investigated a serious package or packages on a Malaysian Airline aircraft for 12 hours.

To put this into an aviation perspective, aircraft in transit were either diverted or returned to departure point or postponed: passengers’ departures were delayed for hours and a major community and commercial infrastructure was immobilised for twelve hours. What for? The suspicious package contained artificial flowers to be used in a Muslim wedding.

A press conference was televised to the world afterwards. A well dressed spokesman for a Minister in the Western Australian government spun some burley for the masses, flanked by commissioned police officers with scrambled egg on their cap brim. It is suggested that, if the police were involved, then at least one policeman had scrambled eggs for brains as well as egg on his face.

The actual facts, as presented by the aircraft under siege, were adequately blurred in the self-congratulatory press conference afterwards. Namely, that it would appear that one or more suspicious packages were detected either on the aircraft after passengers left or they remained on an unattended baggage trolley. In this hysterical terrorism age, almost anything can bring on a touch of Armageddon syndrome. It did this time. For twelve hours, Western Australia’s Constable Plod acted like an Italian traffic cop. Lots of arm waving, shouting and noise but not much sense.

The sensible thing to do in the first instance in these circumstances, is to isolate the package from people, clear any material about the package that could be a missile or a projectile should the package explode. Secondly, the package should be photographed from all and any angle by still film and video film. Have someone look for wires emanating from the package. Check for writing or airline tags on the package. If it is emitting a gas or smoking or smelling, cover it with airline blankets or tarpaulins. At the same time, make a public address announcement in the terminal requesting anyone who is missing the described package to come forward and claim it. The package photos should be examined and an assessment made as to its lethal range if it explodes or otherwise emits.

Assuming all the above has not alleviated fears relating to the package, if the package is still on the aircraft, couple up the plane to a tug and tow it to an isolated area on the airfield and call in the police. If the package is on a trolley, decouple the trolley from the train and tow it to an isolated area on the airfield. Clearly, these fundamental common sense measures were not taken. The aircraft was still hooked up to its aerobridge hours after the problem began.

I mentioned call in the police. Who would that be? Perhaps we should call in Commissioner Mick of the AFP, he of Mohammad Hanneff fame. Perhaps not! Mick is still living that one down. The Special Operations Command of the Australian Army is very close by at Swanbourne and has a special counter terrorism group for such matters. We have CASA with their finger on the pulse in all aviation criminal things. Surely they would have a workable plan at their finger tips to roll out immediately?

We could have called on the bureaucrat that rejoices in the title Director Maritime and Aviation Policy in the Department for Planning and Infrastructure in the WA Government. Surely he would have a workable plane to defuse the situation without delay? None of these worthies put their hands up. It was left to Constable Plod of the WA Police. Clearly, whoever was in charge of planning for that august body has never turned his mind to what to do if someone sends artificial flowers in an unmarked package from Malaysia to Australia in an airliner and it causes alarm.

The Australian Defence Force has dedicated people planning for deployments almost anywhere in the world with operatives. It would appear that the WA police have little forward thinking or strategies for Guildford or Jandakot airports as well, if shambles of the 12 hour delay at Perth ‘International’ is anything to go by.

In the olden days, upsets of this nature were dealt with by operating crews on a semi-regular basis and the events hardly ever made the papers. When Alex Hildebrandt decided to take over a TAA L188 enroute from Sydney to Brisbane with a homemade bomb and firearm, the first officer, Tom Bennett, went back into the cabin, sat with Hildebrandt and wrestled the bomb off him whilst Dinny Lawrence, a dead heading captain, belted Hildebrandt over the head with a fire axe.

The incident was diffused quickly and adequately with the minimum of disruption. Tom Bennett was given a George Medal, Dinny Lawrence was made a Training Captain and Hildebrandt was deported as an unwanted alien. The case is reported at 1964 Qd R 43. The aplomb of the hostess deserves recording, whose conversation made its way into evidence:

Hildebrandt: “Get the captain. We are not going to Brisbane. We are going back to Sydney.”

Miss Strugnell: “Just one moment please while I place the meal in the bag.”

Hiledebrandt: “Get the captain or I will blow your head off.”

Miss Strugnell: “All right.”

During this conversation, Hildebrandt held a firearm near her head.

In 1979, a miscreant by the name of Sillery decided to use a firearm to hijack a TAA DC9 enroute from Coolangatta to Brisbane. Sillery desired to go directly to Singapore and not pass ‘Go’ and land at Brisbane for fuel. Sillery did not understand the need for lots of fuel for a nine hour flight to Singapore. He was prevailed upon to land at Brisbane and whilst doing so a hostess, Esme Quassam, filled Sillery up with liquids, soft drinks and soft words. Nature took its course and Sillery asked Esme Quassam to hold his pistol whilst he attended to nature in the toilet. Esme had become his mate. Sillery served a mandatory life sentence for his crime. Esme was given a Star of Courage award as was the captain, Graeme Mackelmann. All this happened as recently as 1980.

In 1983 or so, a misguided youth in Townsville took it upon himself, for a bit of sport, to ring either a media outlet, the police or ATC and declare that a bomb had been placed on board a TAA B727 out of Townsville for Brisbane each Monday morning for an extended period. The first captain got a droll message from Townsville Area Control to the effect that a message had been received that his aircraft had a bomb on board and what were his intentions. Needless to say, this information spoilt the captain’s morning coffee no end.

He was just abeam Mackay and after seeking info as to where the bomb was, its triggering mechanism, what were its components, what timing was involved and sundry other details (for which ATC had no answers), he elected to go to Mackay. At Mackay passengers were evacuated and the aircraft searched by local porters. If I remember rightly, a local police sergeant and his offsider attended and, after nothing was found and a bit of a conference, the passengers loaded again and the flight proceeded to Brisbane uneventfully.

Your writer was the fourth or fifth captain to get the message that a bomb was aboard his B727 ex TSV on a Monday morning. Other than a cursory glance about the cabin and accessible areas, the flight proceeded to Brisbane and landed normally. The airline crews involved became nameless, the youth was convicted and given community service in Townsville and the case was not reported in legal reports at all.

In all of the above incidents, the actions taken were all spur of the moment and of a low key nature. Common sense solutions were found to overcome the problems. On no occasion was there a 12 hour lockdown of a critical transport infrastructure.

One wonders if Constable Plod has learnt anything from the Perth incident. Has anyone been instructed to formulate a response plan to the finding of a suspicious parcel on an aircraft from overseas without a needless collapse of the airfield infrastructure for 12 hours? Has CASA learnt anything? Is there a plan afoot to bring in the SAS into the picture?

The press conference attended by commissioned police with scrambled egg on the brim of their caps did not elaborate as to the lessons learnt of value for use in the future should a similar incident occur anywhere in Australia. One can only live in hope. Sure, we may live in different times these days but are they really so different?

Watch this space...