Qantas Flight 1737

Infobox Airliner accident
name=Qantas Flight 1737
Date=29 May 2003
Type=Attempted Hijacking
Site=over Bass Strait, Australia
Fatalities=0
Injuries=3
Aircraft Type=Boeing 717-200
Operator=Qantas (QantasLink)
Passengers=47
Crew=6
Survivors=53 (all)

Qantas (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 2.50pm on 29 May. Around ten minutes after take-off, as the crew checked the cabin following the safety demonstration, David Robinson, a passenger seated in Row 7, became agitated, stood up and began to make his way down the aisle. Producing two sharpened wooden stakes from his pocket, Robinson stabbed a flight attendant Denise Hickson and the flight purser Greg Khan in the head on his way to the cabin galley. Khan tackled Robinson to unbalance him, eventually succeeding despite repeated blows to the back of the head from Robinson's stakes. Several passengers helped restrain Robinson, holding him down and tying him up with materials found on board.

The plane immediately turned back to Melbourne, where Robinson was placed under arrest by Australian Federal Police. He was also found to be carrying aerosol cans and cigarette lighters, presumably to use as a flamethrower.

Khan and Hickson were later taken to Royal Melbourne Hospital for treatment, and a passenger who received minor lacerations was treated at the airport by paramedics. [Padraic Murphy, Phillip Hudson: [http://www.theage.com.au/articles/2003/05/29/1054177673194.html Heroes foil Qantas hijack attack] , "The Age", 30 May 2003.] [ [http://www.smh.com.au/articles/2003/05/29/1054177663122.html Two stabbed in attempted hijack over Melbourne] , "The Sydney Morning Herald", 30 May 2003.]

afety and security concerns

Despite numerous security improvements following the September 11, 2001 attacks, Flight 1737 lacked certain security arrangements. The door to the pilots' cabin had not been adapted to completely block access from the outside, and there was no sky marshal on board. [ [http://www.theage.com.au/articles/2003/05/30/1054177728787.html Crackdown over air safety] , "The Age", 31 May 2003.]

Qantas undertook a full security review following the incident and promised to secure the cabin doors on all of their aircraft by 1 November. The airline dismissed the suggestion of armed sky marshals on each flight as too expensive, and a full body search of passengers to detect wooden objects as unfeasible. [ [http://www.qantas.com.au/regions/dyn/au/publicaffairs/details?ArticleID=2003/jun03/2919 Qantas Statement on Aviation Security] , Qantas press release, 1 June 2003.]

Aftermath

In an interview with the Australian Federal Police, David Mark Robinson admitted attempting to hijack the plane which he intended to crash into the Walls of Jerusalem National Park in Tasmania – an action intended to release the Devil from his lair and bring about Armageddon. Robinson also admitted that he had intended to hijack aircraft on two previous occasions. [Gregory, Peter: [http://www.theage.com.au/articles/2004/07/13/1089694357133.html Hijacker vowed to try again, court told] , "The Age", 14 July 2004.]

In July 2004, a Supreme Court of Victoria jury found Robinson not guilty of the three charges against him (attempted hijack of an aircraft, attempted murder and grievous bodily harm) due to reasons of mental impairment. Three psychiatrists testified that at the time of the incident, Robinson was suffering from severe paranoid schizophrenia. Justice Murray Kellam ordered Robinson to undergo psychiatric treatment at Thomas Embling Psychiatric Hospital in Fairfield. [Gregory, Peter: [http://www.theage.com.au/articles/2004/07/14/1089694421071.html Failed hijacker held in care] , "The Age", 15 July 2004.]

Flight attendants Greg Khan and Denise Hickson returned to work after the incident. Khan and four of the passengers who helped restrain his attacker (Domenic Bordin, Keith Charlton, Gregory Martin and Garry Stewart) received Commendations for Brave Conduct medals from the Governor of Victoria, John Landy in November 2004. [ [http://www.smh.com.au/articles/2004/11/15/1100384484072.html Heroes of Flight 1737] , "The Sydney Morning Herald", 15 November 2004.]

References