Trans Australia Airlines Flight 454
Encyclopedia
On 21 September 1982 five men were arrested by Queensland Police
after a daring $600,000 robbery attempt at four Queensland airports. The men, all from Melbourne
, were associates or close to the Painters and Dockers' Union
. Four men consigned themselves as freight and planned to rob a Reserve Bank of Australia
shipment during Trans Australia Airlines
(TAA) flight 454, but cargo porters at Rockhampton Airport
called police when they saw a hand quickly pull down the lid of a wooden box.
Police later discovered men hidden in freight boxes stacked with telephone books at Mount Isa, Townsville and Brisbane airports. Another man was arrested at Townsville Airport, while one man was discovered in a box at Brisbane Airport after apparently missing the flight to Cairns.
The plan was for the person in the box to remove the Reserve Bank money during the flight and substitute it with the telephone books.
Prompt action by TAA in Brisbane led police to other flights at Mount Isa and Townsville. The plan also backfired when the man hidden in the box destined for Mount Isa found that the crate with the Reserve bank money was in a different cargo hold.
(Eagle Farm) and headed towards their next destination, Rockhampton
.
After offloading the freight at Rockhampton the flight crew were notified they had a stowaway
in a box. Informed by First Officer Brian McCarthy, Captain Spring-Brown went down and talked severely to the box. When nothing happened, he instructed McCarthy to go and get the handcuffs, baton, fireaxe and gun (the crew did not in fact have one) to chop its occupant out.
Upon hearing this, the stowaway came out of the box hyperventilated and in a poor state. Spring-Brown then asked "Who are you and what are you doing?" to which the reply was "Give me a go, mate, I've got no money and I'm trying to see my family". The flight crew, who up till then had felt a little bit sorry for the stowaway, then looked inside the box and noticed brand new telephone books, bottles he had used as a toilet, torches, breathing tubes. Most dramatically, they saw a vast pile of money, prompting Spring-Brown to say: "What do you mean there's not enough money, you've got a lot here". With that the stowaway started to take off, somewhat wobbly.
aerial, while Spring-Brown ran around the nose. Untangling himself, the porter reached the fugitive and grabbed him by his boxer shorts, as the captain jumped on his back. Spring-Brown later noted: "Here was 100 sets of eyes looking down from our aircraft looking down at me, sitting on this chap with the porter with his pants halfway down."
The five men connected at the time with the robbery were: John Stewart, Robert Bowers, Robert Davis, Lance Woolcock, Robert Kidd.
Queensland Police
The Queensland Police Service is the law enforcement agency responsible for policing the Australian state of Queensland. In 1990, the Queensland Police Force was officially renamed the Queensland Police Service and the old motto of "Firmness with Courtesy" was changed to "With Honour We Serve"...
after a daring $600,000 robbery attempt at four Queensland airports. The men, all from Melbourne
Melbourne
Melbourne is the capital and most populous city in the state of Victoria, and the second most populous city in Australia. The Melbourne City Centre is the hub of the greater metropolitan area and the Census statistical division—of which "Melbourne" is the common name. As of June 2009, the greater...
, were associates or close to the Painters and Dockers' Union
Federated Ship Painters and Dockers Union
The Federated Ship Painters and Dockers Union was an Australian trade union that covered "mostly work associated with chipping, painting, scrubbing, cleaning, working in every size of tanks, cleaning boilers, docking and undocking vessels, and rigging work"...
. Four men consigned themselves as freight and planned to rob a Reserve Bank of Australia
Reserve Bank of Australia
The Reserve Bank of Australia came into being on 14 January 1960 as Australia's central bank and banknote issuing authority, when the Reserve Bank Act 1959 removed the central banking functions from the Commonwealth Bank to it....
shipment during Trans Australia Airlines
Trans Australia Airlines
Trans Australia Airlines or TAA, was one of the two major Australian domestic airlines between its inception in 1946 and its sale to Qantas in May 1996. During that period TAA played a major part in the development of the Australian air transport industry...
(TAA) flight 454, but cargo porters at Rockhampton Airport
Rockhampton Airport
Rockhampton Airport is a major Australian regional airport that services the city of Rockhampton, with flights to the cites of Brisbane, Sydney, Gladstone, Cairns, Townsville, Mackay and Melbourne....
called police when they saw a hand quickly pull down the lid of a wooden box.
Police later discovered men hidden in freight boxes stacked with telephone books at Mount Isa, Townsville and Brisbane airports. Another man was arrested at Townsville Airport, while one man was discovered in a box at Brisbane Airport after apparently missing the flight to Cairns.
The plan was for the person in the box to remove the Reserve Bank money during the flight and substitute it with the telephone books.
Breathing hose
The men arrested at Rockhampton and Townsville were found with $200,000. Each box had a breathing hose but the man discovered at Rockhampton had difficulty breathing and was trying to get air when noticed. Police then realised the highly co-ordinated robbery might be more than it first appeared and contacted federal police at other airports.Prompt action by TAA in Brisbane led police to other flights at Mount Isa and Townsville. The plan also backfired when the man hidden in the box destined for Mount Isa found that the crate with the Reserve bank money was in a different cargo hold.
Stowaway in a box
Flight 454 took off from Brisbane AirportBrisbane Airport
Brisbane Airport is the sole passenger airport serving Brisbane and the third busiest in Australia, after Melbourne and Sydney Airports. Brisbane Airport has won many awards. Located in the suburb with the same name, the airport serves the city of Brisbane and the surrounding metropolitan area...
(Eagle Farm) and headed towards their next destination, Rockhampton
Rockhampton, Queensland
Rockhampton is a city and local government area in Queensland, Australia. The city lies on the Fitzroy River, approximately from the river mouth, and some north of the state capital, Brisbane....
.
After offloading the freight at Rockhampton the flight crew were notified they had a stowaway
Stowaway
A stowaway is a person who secretly boards a vehicle, such as an aircraft, bus, ship, cargo truck or train, to travel without paying and without being detected....
in a box. Informed by First Officer Brian McCarthy, Captain Spring-Brown went down and talked severely to the box. When nothing happened, he instructed McCarthy to go and get the handcuffs, baton, fireaxe and gun (the crew did not in fact have one) to chop its occupant out.
Upon hearing this, the stowaway came out of the box hyperventilated and in a poor state. Spring-Brown then asked "Who are you and what are you doing?" to which the reply was "Give me a go, mate, I've got no money and I'm trying to see my family". The flight crew, who up till then had felt a little bit sorry for the stowaway, then looked inside the box and noticed brand new telephone books, bottles he had used as a toilet, torches, breathing tubes. Most dramatically, they saw a vast pile of money, prompting Spring-Brown to say: "What do you mean there's not enough money, you've got a lot here". With that the stowaway started to take off, somewhat wobbly.
The chase
A porter then ran under the aircraft only to get caught in the flat DMEDistance Measuring Equipment
Distance measuring equipment is a transponder-based radio navigation technology that measures distance by timing the propagation delay of VHF or UHF radio signals....
aerial, while Spring-Brown ran around the nose. Untangling himself, the porter reached the fugitive and grabbed him by his boxer shorts, as the captain jumped on his back. Spring-Brown later noted: "Here was 100 sets of eyes looking down from our aircraft looking down at me, sitting on this chap with the porter with his pants halfway down."
The five men connected at the time with the robbery were: John Stewart, Robert Bowers, Robert Davis, Lance Woolcock, Robert Kidd.