The Age from Melbourne, Victoria, Australia • Page 1

TEE Thursday, November 16, 1972 250 Spencer Sr Melbourne 60 0421 (Clossified 60 061 1 1 19th year 36 Pages Tvm-VSE. 7c i iiInaii'i'TTITIMilllfMragllinfiTirrTBB Alice Springs airport gun battle ends Australia's first hijack Police What happens to public servants atter Dec. Life may change for some senior public servants after the election. Michelle Grattan discusses possible changes PAGE 9 'He didn't seem to know what he wanted says eyewitness Man dead and policeman seriously hurt Australia's first hijacker died late last night after a gun battle with police at Alice Springs Airport yesterday. Eight hours earlier he had commandeered an Ansett airliner at gunpoint over Central Australia.

None of the 34 passengers on board was in By JOHN MESSER other plane. When the hijacker started shooting at the policeman our captain started screaming over the mike to the guy in the small plane, to run him down. I was told later the man in the other aircraft was shooting, but it didn't appear that way. "They didn't even have a bloody ambulance on the spot to take the policeman and the hijacker away. They used ordinary vehicles I think one was an open utility.

"The hijacker? He wasn't drunk. He didn't drink at all on the flight. We couldn't understand what he wanted. I just did a psychiatric exam and he didn't appear to be deranged at all. He didn't seem to know what he wanted.

"We wondered if he was running away from something. He didn't have any demands. He let most of the passengers out. He was quite willing to let the passengers go. I'm quite sure it could have been much better arranged, without the shooting.

"Nobody was worried, although one of the hostesses broke out in a nervous rash around her neck. The other one was quite calm. She was the one who went out with guy. "I feel angry and sorry for that guy. He was so confused, he didn't know what he was doing.

He asked the pilot if he could WORK BANS Insurance clerks will meet throughout Australia to discuss a union request they lift work bans so their salary claim can go to arbitration. PAGE 5. FORD NAMED The NSW Con-sumer Affairs Bureau says complaints against the Ford Motor Company have increased substantially. PAGE 5. VIETNAM Hopes are rising in the U.S.

that a Vietnam peace agreement will be reached at the weekend. PAGE 6 TRANSPLANT A young Argentina woman is expecting a baby after an ovary transplant. The birth could be the first in history after such an operation. PAGE 7. STABILITY The Nixon Administration expects a period of stabilisation in the Far East over the next four years, based on the common desire of China, Russia, Japan and the U.S.

to avoid new conflicts. PAGE 10. ODD SPOT Many pending trials in Salonica, Greece, are being postponed because mice have devoured files in tha court archives. HAM Eh The Premier (Mr. Hamer) says he is no longer a member of the board of any public company and has resigned other semi-public positions.

PAGE 2. URBAN AID Labor would "match and top" the Liberal Party's proposed $330 million spending on urban transport, Mr. Whitlam says in Brisbane. PAGE 3. DRIVERS A bill introduced in State Parlia- ment aims at weeding out potentially bad drivers by providing for more stringent tests before an applicant can obtain a provisional driver's licence.

PAGE 3. 'BRIBE' Mr. McMahon calls Labor's election promises "the greatest bribe since Dr. Evatt's desperate policy of PAGE 3. TRANSPORT Melbourne will benefit under a $330 million Government plan to update urban transport.

PAGE 4. NO LEAVE The army's Southern Command Band was expecting this weekend off the first for eight weeks but isn't getting It. PAGE 4. "I feel angry and sorry for that guy. He was so confused, he didn't know what he was doing.

He was confused apologetic." The strange story of the apologetic hijacker who almost got away with an out-of-date parachute and then blundered into a violent shoot-out was told last night by a Sydney medical student who travelled on the hijack plane. Peter Gottlieb, 23, of- Edgecliff Road, Bondi Junction, a final-year student, was caught in the drama as he flew to Darwin on his way to Singapore for a two-month vacation stint at Singapore Hospital. Czechoslovakian born Gottlieb came to Australia seven years ago. "We were just about to get off the plane landing at Alice Springs when it happened," he said. "This guy was sitting quite normally.

He had been sitting across from me about a row back. He didn't talk to the guy next to him at all. He was sort of Scandinavian looking, with a beard. A blond-ish, tall guy about 30. "We didn't even notice that he had left the seat.

We were just about to get out of the plane when we saw him with the air hostess walking down towards the back seat. He had a .22 gun about 10 inches long. "Mostly he dealt with the crew in the cabin. The only time he spoke to us was when he was leaving the plane. He said he was sorry for the inconvenience for wasting our time.

"He was completely confused. He didn't know what he wanted. He decided he wanted a para- chute after taxi-ing around the airport for about half an hour. One of the passengers who said he was in the army got him one, but I heard it was 13 years old. "He asked for a light aircraft.

The light aircraft came over and stopped next to us. The parachute was brought over to our aircraft. It seemed to be very light for a normal parachute. "How did it feel? We were hoping he would decide what he wanted. I don't think it was dangerous.

I think it was badly done on the ground that they made him shoot. He appeared quite harmless. "He took the hostess outside. He asked for a bigger aircraft. He took the hostess and the parachute.

They were talking for about five or 10 minutes. The policeman grabbed for his gun. It slipped out of his hand. One of them fell down. "Somehow he managed to get the gun and start shooting at the policeman.

I was about 20 yards away in the plane looking out the window. I TamantCraak if--- 3j. '41 I Cooler Pady ADELAIDE jured. The airport gun battle ended Australia's first hijack which lasted three bizarre hours. During the airport gun battle the hijacker shot and badly wounded a policeman who tried to disarm him as he held an air hostess hostage.

The policeman, Constable Paul Sandeman, 31, is in hospital in a serious condition with wounds to the hands and shoulder and a bullet lodged in his stomach. Police shot the hijacker seconds after he gunned down Constable Sandeman and fled into scrub at the edge of Alice Springs Airport. Constable Sandeman was shot in the hands as he fought with the gunman on the tarmac. Police said the hijacker fired two more shots at Constable Sandeman and one hit him in the back. The drama began when the man, aged about 35 and said to be a Hungarian, burst into the cockpit of the Fokker Friendship VH-rNL.

Hostess Sir Reginald Ansett listens anxiously to a "blow by blow" description of the hijacking as Ansett men in Alice Springs make direct reports by phone to Ansett headquarters in Melbourne. smoke a cigarette. The crew were fabulous. But I think somehow on the ground it was mucked up. There was one other guy in the Armed with a sawn-off .22 rifle, which he had hidden in his trouser leg, he ordered the pilot, Captain Ralph Young, to get him a parachute and a light plane with a 1000-mile flying range.

He also asked for parachute boots. The man's demands were radioed to Alice Springs Airport When the Fokker Friendship which was on a regular Adelaide to Darwin flight, touched down at Alice Springs the gunman started bargaining with police as the plane taxied around the tarmac. glued to spot He agreed to free 10 women and children on board the plane but kept the men pasengers and the four crew. At no time during the drama did the hijacker ask for a money ransom. Police offered the gunman two light aircraft but he turned both down.

He forced Caotain Youne and his TV-Radio lift-out guide Page index World news 6, 7, 10; letters editorials 9j Business Age 16-20; executive world IS; Sydney quotes 19; Melbourne quotes 20 Accent 26; amusements 27-28; comics, TV, crossword 28; personal notices 29; weather, shipping, law list 33; sport 34-36. Classified index -29 co-pilot Walter Gowans to taxi the Ns, Fokker around the airstrip while he negotiated with, police. VICTORIA: Afternoon showers in north and east. Fine elsewhere. Warm to hot.

Details 33. tJC. This is the Ansett Fokker Friendship VH-FNL the plane hijacked yesterday afternoon. ADELAIDE. Air hostess Kaye Goreham, 24, could feel the muzzle of the hijacker's rifle in her back as she frisked a detective on the tarmac of Alice Springs Airport yesterday.

"I felt glued to the spot," Kaye told her boyfriend, Vladimir Jankowiak, 25, by telephone shortly after the incident. Here's how Mr. Jankowiak relayed Kaye's story: "After the passengers had left the plane Kaye and the hijacker walked across the tarmac to a waiting light plane, "A detective got out of the plane and approached them. The hijacker told Kaye to frisk him for any concealed weapons. "Kaye suddenly felt an object like a gun under the clothes the detective had on, but she didn't tell the hijacker.

"The sergeant lunged at the hijacker and was shot. "The hijacker started to run off and was shot by another detective on the plane. "Kaye was very worried about the policeman who had been shot. "There was nothing she could do. She was glued to the spot." Mr.

Jankowiak said Kaye was worried because she was supposed to have gone on the light plane with the hijacker. "She thought that was the end," he said. Kaye, who has been a hostess for six years, told Mr. Jankowiak she was feeling quite calm as she talked to him. But the penny probably had not yet "dropped in the she said.

Mr. Jankowiak said he and Kaye had been going out for about 2'2 years. Croxford power cuts to Finally, about 5.20 p.m., he agreed to take a Cessna 250 with a pilot. While 15 armed police hid in hangars and sheds at the airport, Constable Sandeman, posing as a navigator, and local flying instructor Mr. Ossie Watts taxied the light plane towards the parked Fokker Friendship.

Gun at head The light plans stopped 60 ft. from the Fokker and the hijacker pushed air hostess Miss Kay Goreham of Adelaide, out the plane's small loading door. He walked towards the Cessna with a gun trained at Miss Goreham's head. Constable Sandeman, the hijacker and Miss Goreham talked for about 10 minutes as anxious police, and airline officials watched through binoculars. On board the light plane was the parachute the hijacker had demanded.

Police brought an old parachute from a gliding airfield 10 miles from Alice Springs for the gunman. The parachute was handed to the gunman. That's when Constable Sandeman moved. He lunged at the gunman trying to wrestle the sawn-off .22 from his hands. The gunman fired sending a bullet ripping into the policeman's hands.

AlfaHomeo ow strike call and the perfectionists Severe power restrictions will be impose in Victoria from midnight tonight. White-collar workers in the SEC last night called a 24-hour strike which a union leader said was aimed at stopping "all industry and ommerce" allowing only emergency services to continue. Rail strike may extend Today's rail strike throughout Victoria could be Indefinite, union officials said last night. Mnloa'sb Bridie Uu 'Vattt Mound 1875 when PBS beian bailout. ig Constable Sandeman jumped to one side, and Miss Goreham fled in the opposite direction.

The hijacker fired two shots at the fleeing policeman. One shot hit Constable Sandeman in the back and lodged in his stomach. He then fled for scrub at the edge of the airfield. Armed police chased the man, shooting him in the back. Police surrounded the wounded gunman and took him to Alice Springs Hospital where he was placed under guard until he died about 9.45 p.m.

Hostages aboard the Fokker Friendship remained frozen in their seats while the drama was played out. Ansett officials said the man joined the flight in Adelaide using the name M. Nelson. They said he was a late booking on the flight. A block of rural land bought by the chairman of the Board of Works (Mr.

A. H. Croxford), his wife and two business associates for $28,000 was now worth $62,000 after being zoned as urban land, the Croxford inquiry was told yesterday. Mr. Gordon Spence, counsel assisting the inquiry, said the transactions raised the question whether Mr.

Croxford had made use of information on the future zoning of land. He said other questions which arose were: Did Mr. Croxford try to influence the Board of Works in relation to the zoning of land Did he act properly in the purchase of the land, considering the land was in the board's area Mr. Spence was making his opening address at the start of the inquiry Into land dealings by Mr. Croxford.

The State Government ordered the inquiry by Mr. W. O. Harris. QC, following allegations in Parliament and disclosures in "The Age" last month.

Mr. Spence said evidence would be called on 11 land transactions involving Mr. Croxford, his family and business associates. He said Mr. Croxford, Mrs.

Croxford, Mr. Vivian Campbell Collins Rush and Mrs. Rush had bought ITA acres in Bemboka Road, North Ringwood, between August, 1968, and February, 1969. Mr. Rush, a neighbor of the Croxfords, is assistant engineer of Box Hill council, and has been a Doncaster-Templestowe councillor since 1961.

Board to be told of 11 transactions 12. PBSgivesyou6fi onyour savings and 97yeais experience. The SEC has already warned of blackouts as a result of a maintenance, ban imposed by the same workers. Tomorrow's strike seems certain to cause severe restrictions on industry, a partial or complete cut in tram and train services and restrictions on domestic power supplies. Late last night the SEC had still not had time to make a formal announcement on restrictions.

The strike and bans on maintenance work have been imposed by the SEC branch of the Municipal Officers' Association. The men are asking for increased payments to shift workers. The SEC said last night work bans had reduced generating capacity to a dangerous level of 1400 megawatts and a further 400 megawatts were in a "precarious The Federal secretary of MOA (Mr. G. W.

Donnar) told last night's meeting of SEC workers in Melbourne that recent actions by Victorian Instrumentalities were a political stunt to help the Government at the Federal elections. "The attitude of the State Government has been deliberately provocative and the members we represent have been effectively snubbed," he said. The secretary of the SEC branch of the MOA (Mr. Reg. Flynn) said it would be cheating the rank and file to avoid a strike for politi- cal reasons.

"We are not politically affiliated, and this is an industrial matter," he said. The SEC branch Imposed the work bans more than a month ago. They have meant a gradual deterioration of the State's power generating system. MOA officers are refusing to issue permits to maintenance men carrying out repair work. The bans have prevented essential maintenance on Latrobe Valley power stations, open cuts, and all SEC power installatoins.

They were Imposed in support of the MOA's claim for increased shift allowances for SEC staff. The union wants payment of $15 a week for three-shift workers and $10 a week for two-shift workers. The SEC has offered $8.50 and $6 respectively. Mr. Justice Aird has offered to investigate the union's claim in the Arbitration Commission if the bans are lifted.

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It is the second strike over the issue In Victoria. All told, there have been five rail stoppages In Victoria this year, The Railways Commis-t6ioners yesterday responded to the AFULE's call for talks but negotiations broke down early in the afternoon. "We made our position perfectly clear it's now up to them," the acting head commissioner (Mr. E. P.

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JAKARTA, Nov. 15. Nearly 700 people have died of cholera in South Suma--tra since July and 2863 have been admitted to hospital. A health department spokesman said a medical team had gone to the area to try to stop the disease from spreading. ftrmancntBuiklina Ptah shed 1875 Tests to weed out poor road prospects-5.

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