Ansett Australia Flight 232, on Wednesday, 15 November 1972, was a flight from

Adelaide Adelaide ( ) is the capital city of South Australia, the state's largest city and the fifth-most populous city in Australia. "Adelaide" may refer to either Greater Adelaide (including the Adelaide Hills) or the Adelaide city centre. The dem ...

South Australia South Australia (commonly abbreviated as SA) is a state in the southern central part of Australia. It covers some of the most arid parts of the country. With a total land area of , it is the fourth-largest of Australia's states and territories ...

aboard a

Fokker Friendship The Fokker F27 Friendship is a turboprop airliner developed and manufactured by the Dutch aircraft manufacturer Fokker. It is the most numerous post-war aircraft manufactured in the Netherlands; the F27 was also one of the most successful Europe ...

bound for

Alice Springs Alice Springs ( aer, Mparntwe) is the third-largest town in the Northern Territory of Australia. Known as Stuart until 31 August 1933, the name Alice Springs was given by surveyor William Whitfield Mills after Alice, Lady Todd (''née'' Al ...

Northern Territory The Northern Territory (commonly abbreviated as NT; formally the Northern Territory of Australia) is an states and territories of Australia, Australian territory in the central and central northern regions of Australia. The Northern Territory ...

. It was Australia's second aircraft hijacking (after the first in 1960), and resulted in the perpetrator's death by suicide.

In-flight hijack attempt

A male passenger, subsequently identified as Miloslav Hrabinec, a

Czech Czech may refer to: * Anything from or related to the Czech Republic, a country in Europe ** Czech language ** Czechs, the people of the area ** Czech culture ** Czech cuisine * One of three mythical brothers, Lech, Czech, and Rus' Places * Czech, ...

migrant, had boarded the flight in Adelaide with a concealed sawn-off .22

ArmaLite ArmaLite, or Armalite, is an American small arms engineering company, formed in the early 1950s, in Hollywood, California. Many of its products, as conceived by chief designer Eugene Stoner, relied on unique foam-filled fiberglass butt/stock fur ...

rifle and a sheath knife strapped to his leg. About a half-hour before the scheduled landing time, as the flight was making its descent into

Alice Springs Airport Alice Springs Airport is an Australian regional airport south of Alice Springs, Northern Territory. The airport was notably involved in Australia's first domestic airline hijacking, and later a suicide attack by a former airline employee wh ...

, he emerged from the

lavatory Lavatory, Lav, or Lavvy may refer to: *Toilet, the plumbing fixture *Toilet (room), containing a toilet *Public toilet *Aircraft lavatory, the public toilet on an aircraft *Latrine, a rudimentary toilet *A lavatorium, the washing facility in a mon ...

, produced the gun and said to a

flight attendant A flight attendant, also known as steward/stewardess or air host/air hostess, is a member of the aircrew aboard commercial flights, many business jets and some government aircraft. Collectively called cabin crew, flight attendants are prima ...

named Gai Rennie "This is a hijack". Gai walked through cabin followed by hijacker. She then explained to flight attendant Kaye Goreham that the man behind her had a gun. All three then moved to front of aircraft. Gai then advised Captain Young & first officer Walter Gowans that there was a man wanting to talk & he had a gun & said it was a hijack. However Captain said he was in landing mode & would talk to him on the ground. Captain asked Gai 'what does he want'. Gai replied that she didn't know. Hrabinec was informed by crew that he needed to be seated for landing and he complied.

Negotiations with police

After the plane landed police commenced negotiations with the hijacker. According to Goreham's account, Hrabinec stated his motive was not financial (he asked for no money) but that he wanted to commit suicide in a spectacular way by parachuting into a remote location and surviving for as long as he could before killing himself. To this end he demanded a light aircraft, a parachute and a jumpsuit.

Attempt to escape in a light aircraft

A civilian pilot and flying instructor, the local

Aero Club A flying club or aero club is a not-for-profit, member-run organization that provides its members with affordable access to aircraft. Many clubs also provide flight training, flight planning facilities, pilot supplies and associated services, as ...

manager Ossie Watts, volunteered himself and his Cessna aircraft. An undercover

police constable A constable is a person holding a particular office, most commonly in criminal law enforcement. The office of constable can vary significantly in different jurisdictions. A constable is commonly the rank of an officer within the police. Other peop ...

Paul Sandeman, posing as Watts' navigator, was also on board the Cessna. According to Kaye Goreham, Hrabinec became suspicious upon seeing Sandeman and requested Goreham search Sandeman for weapons. Goreham did so but did not inform the hijacker when she felt a small firearm Sandeman had hidden. Goreham states that the policeman "went for his gun" and the hijacker shot Sandeman in the hand and stomach. Sandeman was also shot in the right shoulder and left arm. The hijacker ran off and Watts, who had been shown how to use a gun minutes earlier, began shooting. Police marksmen also opened fire and Hrabinec was wounded. Hrabinec then retreated to a ditch where he fatally shot himself.

Outcome

Constable Sandeman was awarded the

Queen's Commendation for Bravery The King's Commendation for Bravery and the King's Commendation for Bravery in the Air are United Kingdom awards,Trans Australia Airlines Flight 408 The Trans-Australian Airlines hijacking was Australia's first aircraft hijacking. It occurred on 19 July 1960 over Brisbane in a Trans Australia Airlines (TAA) Lockheed Electra. 43 passengers and six crew were on board Flight 408, the last Sydn ...

Attempted hijacking of a Lockheed Electra in 1960 *

Qantas Flight 1737 QantasLink Flight 1737 was an afternoon Australian domestic flight from Melbourne Airport to Launceston Airport, which was subject to an attempted hijacking on 29 May 2003. Hijack attempt Flight 1737 left Melbourne Airport at 2.50 pm on ...

Attempted hijacking of a Boeing 717 in 2003

Notes

References

* *. Retrieved on 2006-09-16. {{Aviation accidents and incidents in 1972 Ansett Australia accidents and incidents Aircraft hijackings in Australia Aviation accidents and incidents in the Northern Territory Aviation accidents and incidents in 1972 1972 crimes in Australia Accidents and incidents involving the Fokker F27 Terrorist incidents in Oceania in 1972 1970s in the Northern Territory November 1972 events in Australia 1972 deaths Terrorist incidents in Australia in the 1970s