The bizarre reason a gunman hijacked an Ansett flight in 1972
ONE of the strangest crimes in Australian history played out aboard an Ansett Fokker Friendship in 1972, but what was the bizarre motive for the drama?
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WHEN a Czech immigrant took charge of a passenger flight over the red sands of the central Australian desert, no-one could have guessed what he had in mind.
There had been an attempt to hijack a TAA flight in 1960, but in the early 1970s,
the term “hijack” was still largely foreign to Australians — something that only happened out there in the big, wide world.
That all changed 44 years ago when a gunman tried to take charge of an Ansett flight from Adelaide to Alice Springs with a bizarre plan.
The crew of four and 28 passengers left Adelaide for Alice Springs aboard Ansett flight 232, a Fokker Friendship Turboprop, on the morning of Wednesday, November 15, 1972.
The flight was ordinary enough until about 1.40pm, about half an hour from Alice Springs Airport when Miloslav Hrabinec came out of a bathroom armed with a sawn-off .22-calibre Armalite rifle and a sheath knife, announcing to air hostess Gai Rennie: “This is a hijack”.
Hrabinec didn’t want to fly to an exotic destination.
He didn’t want money, nor did he seek to achieve a political objective through the hijack.
He wanted to die — and not at the hands of police, or by taking everyone on board with him.
Hrabinec forced his way into the cockpit with hostess Ms Rennie and another hostess, Kaye Goreham, demanding only a parachute, a jump suit and to be let out of the plane 1000 miles into the desert.
But the captain told the gunman that the landing was at a critical stage and that he was too busy to speak.
Hrabinec, Ms Goreham and Ms Rennie sat on the galley floor, as ordered by the captain, and waited to land.
Police were informed of the hijack and were waiting when the aircraft taxied to an isolated part of the airport.
The crew was held hostage. Hrabinec allowed the passengers to leave the plane but six volunteered to stay.
In 2007, Ms Goreham (by then Kaye McLachlan), told News Limited about the tense hours in baking 40C heat that Hrabinec held them captive as police negotiated with him.
“He said: ‘I don’t want money. Does that surprise you?’,” she said.
“He told us over the four hours we were held captive that he wanted to commit suicide in a spectacular way. He intended to parachute out over the desert, and survive for as long as he could and then commit suicide.”
THE MID — AIR HIJACKING DRAMA OF TAA FLIGHT 488
Alice Springs Aero Club pilot Ossie Watts volunteered to fly Hrabinec in his Cessna, with NT police constable Paul Sandeman in plain clothes posing as a navigator.
But the Cessna was not close enough to the Ansett craft for his liking.
He told police that if the Cessna was not moved closer, he would shoot a passenger in three minutes. The Cessna was moved within 10 metres.
Hrabinec, still armed, then left the Fokker Friendship with Ms Goreham, but he was suspicious of Constable Sandeman almost immediately.
Ms Goreham was ordered to pat down Sandeman for weapons, and she felt a gun in his pocket, but did not let on to Sandeman.
Sandeman lunged at Hrabinec. He grabbed at the rifle, but his sweaty hands slipped on the barrel.
Ms McLachlan remembered: “Then Paul lunged for the gun. I was standing next to him and the hijacker shot his gun and a bullet went through Paul’s hand.
“Then he pushed the gun into Paul’s stomach and pulled the trigger again.
“When Paul fell, his gun fell out and he reached for it and started running, weaving and ducking. I ran the other way, behind the light aircraft.”
Surrounding police and Mr Watts, who police had taught to fire a gun that afternoon, all opened fire.
As the wounded Sandeman tried to escape, Hrabinec kept firing at him, hitting him in the right shoulder and left arm.
Hrabinec then scarpered for cover some nearby bushes amid a hail of bullets.
There, behind a small earth bank, and with wounds in his lower left leg and right shoulder, Hrabinec shot himself.
He died in the Alice Springs Hospital that evening.
Mr Watts rushed to Sandeman’s aid as Hrabinec fled.
He underwent surgery at the same hospital and although he survived, he never fully recovered.
It took months for police months to identify the gunman as Hrabinec.
A national search for information brought forward some associates of Hrabinec’s from Melbourne, who confirmed his identity.
An inquest in 1973 found the shot that killed Hrabinec was self-inflicted.
Sandeman was awarded the Queen’s Commendation for Bravery in Alice Springs in 1973.
IF you or someone you know may be at risk of suicide or self harm, contact Lifeline (13 1114) or BeyondBlue (1300 224 636)
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