"Incident" at JHB International
GunsssR4ever
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"Incident" at JHB International
Two policemen have reportedly been critically wounded during an attempted heist at Johannesburg International Airport on Thursday night.
Police have refused to comment, except to confirm that "an incident" had occurred at the airport.
North Rand police's Eugene Opperman's brief confirmation followed an anonymous call to Sapa.
He said police would later issue a statement.
However, Beeld has learnt that two policemen were wounded just after 21:00 at the KLM cargo bay at the airport.
Radio 702 on Thursday night reported that the shooting was connected to a heist at KLM, where cargo such as diamonds and gold is handled.
There is no indication of what, if anything, has been stolen.
Radio 702 quoted people fetching passengers at the airport as saying several flights had been delayed. This could not be confirmed.
However, the Airports Company of SA's website displayed an "indefinite delay" on the Amsterdam-bound flight KLM KL592-NW8592 scheduled to leave at 22:40.
Thursday night?s "incident" follows a shooting at about 21:30 on Wednesday when a group of men opened fire on police patrolling the perimeter fence of the airport.
The officers had accosted a "suspicious-looking person", whom they asked for identification, said Opperman.
According to an eyewitness a single police officer confronted the man.
At that moment, five men in a blue car of unknown make, parked opposite the gate, told the man to get back to the car.
They opened fire on the policeman with an automatic rifle, wounding him in the chest.
Airport security guards returned fire.
The occupants of the car as well as the man police accosted escaped.
The wounded policeman was taken to a local hospital where he is in a serious, but stable condition.
Police have refused to comment, except to confirm that "an incident" had occurred at the airport.
North Rand police's Eugene Opperman's brief confirmation followed an anonymous call to Sapa.
He said police would later issue a statement.
However, Beeld has learnt that two policemen were wounded just after 21:00 at the KLM cargo bay at the airport.
Radio 702 on Thursday night reported that the shooting was connected to a heist at KLM, where cargo such as diamonds and gold is handled.
There is no indication of what, if anything, has been stolen.
Radio 702 quoted people fetching passengers at the airport as saying several flights had been delayed. This could not be confirmed.
However, the Airports Company of SA's website displayed an "indefinite delay" on the Amsterdam-bound flight KLM KL592-NW8592 scheduled to leave at 22:40.
Thursday night?s "incident" follows a shooting at about 21:30 on Wednesday when a group of men opened fire on police patrolling the perimeter fence of the airport.
The officers had accosted a "suspicious-looking person", whom they asked for identification, said Opperman.
According to an eyewitness a single police officer confronted the man.
At that moment, five men in a blue car of unknown make, parked opposite the gate, told the man to get back to the car.
They opened fire on the policeman with an automatic rifle, wounding him in the chest.
Airport security guards returned fire.
The occupants of the car as well as the man police accosted escaped.
The wounded policeman was taken to a local hospital where he is in a serious, but stable condition.
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Gangta's Paradise. Must say, security at JI sucks. Parked at an assigned gate 2 weeks ago 22.00. Pax disembarked only to find the door locked and NO security. Pax could'nt enter and had to wait approximately 20 minutes for the authorities to find a security guard, and this after we called the company from the cockpit to get the door unlocked. Eesch!!! Viva Africa, Viva Johberg, Viva, Viva strikes, Viva 
economy.....VIVA!
economy.....VIVA!
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From star.co.za
Airport shootout
September 17, 2004
By Gill Gifford, Lee Rondganger, Kevin Ritchie and Baldwin Ndaba
Another security blunder closed down Johannesburg International Airport last night.
In a daring attack on the airport apron, armed robbers ambushed police and security personnel who were escorting valuable cargo to a KLM Asia jumbo jet which had just arrived from the Netherlands.
The robbers, according to eye-witnesses, then jumped into a white bakkie parked nearby and drove out of the airport grounds without being stopped.
The heist caused a two-hour shutdown and disrupted travel arrangements of hundreds of people.
According to police spokesperson Superintendent Eugene Opperman, the incident took place just before 9pm.
The plane was due to depart at around 11.30pm, sources on the ground said last night.
It is understood that the cargo was a load of gold and diamonds.
“Five men appeared and started firing at security personnel and police, injuring three of our guys. Two of them are in a serious condition this morning and one is now stable,” Opperman said.
Police have declined to say how many people were involved in the escort as this was a security issue.
Workers at the airport told The Star that the gang had driven into the area where the drama occurred – a heavily fortified part of the airport – in a white bakkie. They were armed with automatic rifles. It was not known how they had managed to gain access.
Opperman said that how they had managed to get in and out again was a central part of the investigation.
When The Star visited the airport, police had cordoned off the plane and at least eight yellow cones had been placed in areas where spent cartridges had been found.
There were reports that the plane had been damaged in the shootout, but The Star could not confirm this last night.
The incident took place at the “air side” of the airport, which is the restricted area where the international aprons are situated and where the planes are parked.
Airports Company of South Africa (ACSA) spokesperson Jacqui O’Sullivan said: “The airport was temporarily closed to allow for police and safety investigations.
“There were no landings or take-offs for two hours, and the airstrips were re-opened at 11.15pm.”
O’Sullivan said five domestic flights had been diverted during that time and two international carriers had been delayed overnight, with passengers having to be accommodated in airport hotels.
The hundreds of passengers involved – from a full KLM flight to Amsterdam and a flight to Mauritius – were all to depart later today.
Opperman said police investigations were continuing, and an automatic rifle had been recovered.
“We have some leads and expect some arrests soon,” he said.
Detectives from the North Rand SAPS Serious and Violent Crime Investigation Unit were now in charge of the investigation.
This was the latest in a series of security breaches at the airport.
The most serious occurred in December 2001 when armed robbers fled with about R9,5-million in dollars, about R1,2-million
worth of diamonds and R96 400 worth of jewellery from a cargo depot at the airport.
The cash had been destined for Kinshasa and Luanda. The diamonds and jewellery, a consignment sent from Israel to Johannesburg via Amsterdam, were to be delivered to Ram International, South Africa’s biggest diamond exporter.
Three weeks before that incident, ACSA had fired Khuselani Security – the largest security company of four patrolling the grounds – and hired a new one.
In September 2001, a 35-year-old cargo agent was shot dead in a failed robbery at the airport.
Three armed men attempted to rob a security company van that was parked outside the airport’s apron after collecting a “substantial” sum of money from a Lufthansa plane.
And this Wednesday night, a policeman was seriously injured after a police patrol challenged a suspicious man they found on the perimeter of the airport.
As they were about to take him to the police station, a group of men drove up and began firing at the patrol with automatic weapons.
In the ensuing melee, the first suspect escaped along with the gunmen.
Less than a fortnight before, four armed men brazenly held up the Spur restaurant on the first floor of the Domestic Terminal.
This occurred at about 10pm on Sunday September 5.
The robbers then left the premises, apparently in full public view and past a manned armed police post.
At no stage were they challenged by police or airport security, and they remain at large.
The heist was hushed up for almost a week until the Saturday Star began investigating and broke the story last Saturday.
Ironically, ACSA had publicly declared only weeks before the Spur armed robbery that it had installed 1 200 surveillance cameras and spent about R53-million on upgrading and replacing fences, barriers and access control gates.
It said it would spend another R60-million on further upgrading airport security measures.
Security at the airport was tight this morning with heavily armed police officers and members of the Ekurhuleni Metro Police on duty outside the domestic and international arrivals.
Two security guards said heavily armed police had been deployed to the area where the attempted heist took place.
Airport shootout
September 17, 2004
By Gill Gifford, Lee Rondganger, Kevin Ritchie and Baldwin Ndaba
Another security blunder closed down Johannesburg International Airport last night.
In a daring attack on the airport apron, armed robbers ambushed police and security personnel who were escorting valuable cargo to a KLM Asia jumbo jet which had just arrived from the Netherlands.
The robbers, according to eye-witnesses, then jumped into a white bakkie parked nearby and drove out of the airport grounds without being stopped.
The heist caused a two-hour shutdown and disrupted travel arrangements of hundreds of people.
According to police spokesperson Superintendent Eugene Opperman, the incident took place just before 9pm.
The plane was due to depart at around 11.30pm, sources on the ground said last night.
It is understood that the cargo was a load of gold and diamonds.
“Five men appeared and started firing at security personnel and police, injuring three of our guys. Two of them are in a serious condition this morning and one is now stable,” Opperman said.
Police have declined to say how many people were involved in the escort as this was a security issue.
Workers at the airport told The Star that the gang had driven into the area where the drama occurred – a heavily fortified part of the airport – in a white bakkie. They were armed with automatic rifles. It was not known how they had managed to gain access.
Opperman said that how they had managed to get in and out again was a central part of the investigation.
When The Star visited the airport, police had cordoned off the plane and at least eight yellow cones had been placed in areas where spent cartridges had been found.
There were reports that the plane had been damaged in the shootout, but The Star could not confirm this last night.
The incident took place at the “air side” of the airport, which is the restricted area where the international aprons are situated and where the planes are parked.
Airports Company of South Africa (ACSA) spokesperson Jacqui O’Sullivan said: “The airport was temporarily closed to allow for police and safety investigations.
“There were no landings or take-offs for two hours, and the airstrips were re-opened at 11.15pm.”
O’Sullivan said five domestic flights had been diverted during that time and two international carriers had been delayed overnight, with passengers having to be accommodated in airport hotels.
The hundreds of passengers involved – from a full KLM flight to Amsterdam and a flight to Mauritius – were all to depart later today.
Opperman said police investigations were continuing, and an automatic rifle had been recovered.
“We have some leads and expect some arrests soon,” he said.
Detectives from the North Rand SAPS Serious and Violent Crime Investigation Unit were now in charge of the investigation.
This was the latest in a series of security breaches at the airport.
The most serious occurred in December 2001 when armed robbers fled with about R9,5-million in dollars, about R1,2-million
worth of diamonds and R96 400 worth of jewellery from a cargo depot at the airport.
The cash had been destined for Kinshasa and Luanda. The diamonds and jewellery, a consignment sent from Israel to Johannesburg via Amsterdam, were to be delivered to Ram International, South Africa’s biggest diamond exporter.
Three weeks before that incident, ACSA had fired Khuselani Security – the largest security company of four patrolling the grounds – and hired a new one.
In September 2001, a 35-year-old cargo agent was shot dead in a failed robbery at the airport.
Three armed men attempted to rob a security company van that was parked outside the airport’s apron after collecting a “substantial” sum of money from a Lufthansa plane.
And this Wednesday night, a policeman was seriously injured after a police patrol challenged a suspicious man they found on the perimeter of the airport.
As they were about to take him to the police station, a group of men drove up and began firing at the patrol with automatic weapons.
In the ensuing melee, the first suspect escaped along with the gunmen.
Less than a fortnight before, four armed men brazenly held up the Spur restaurant on the first floor of the Domestic Terminal.
This occurred at about 10pm on Sunday September 5.
The robbers then left the premises, apparently in full public view and past a manned armed police post.
At no stage were they challenged by police or airport security, and they remain at large.
The heist was hushed up for almost a week until the Saturday Star began investigating and broke the story last Saturday.
Ironically, ACSA had publicly declared only weeks before the Spur armed robbery that it had installed 1 200 surveillance cameras and spent about R53-million on upgrading and replacing fences, barriers and access control gates.
It said it would spend another R60-million on further upgrading airport security measures.
Security at the airport was tight this morning with heavily armed police officers and members of the Ekurhuleni Metro Police on duty outside the domestic and international arrivals.
Two security guards said heavily armed police had been deployed to the area where the attempted heist took place.
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LOVED the airticle in the papers today about security at ACSA airports. Makes on feel really safe when you are at work there
Down at Cape Town there is oh well lets rather say the least said the better. It is an absolute joke - they have 2 accesses at the tower and the one they search you and try and look efficient, but the gate on the other side of the security building, anyone can drive through as long as you look like you work on the airport. Every now and then they try to be efficient, but it is a joke. Is they were consistent I would not mind, but they are consistent in their inconsistency
The number of times catering trucks drive though there, that are not properly sealed and not searched is quite a joke. And ACSA are so proud of their (lack of ) security.
One has to look at the amount of school kids that beg for money at the robots as you leave the airport and wonder what goes on there. What a lovely welcome foreign visitors have to Cape Town - at the first robot you either have kids begging or trying to steal from cars. Does not help reporting them - nothing happens - me thinks they must have parents that work at the airport security as nothing gets done to remove them. Even heard last week that they are now tring to rob the people that walk to/from the garage/terminal buildings.
It is time their inefficiency is exposed
Down at Cape Town there is oh well lets rather say the least said the better. It is an absolute joke - they have 2 accesses at the tower and the one they search you and try and look efficient, but the gate on the other side of the security building, anyone can drive through as long as you look like you work on the airport. Every now and then they try to be efficient, but it is a joke. Is they were consistent I would not mind, but they are consistent in their inconsistency
The number of times catering trucks drive though there, that are not properly sealed and not searched is quite a joke. And ACSA are so proud of their (lack of ) security.
One has to look at the amount of school kids that beg for money at the robots as you leave the airport and wonder what goes on there. What a lovely welcome foreign visitors have to Cape Town - at the first robot you either have kids begging or trying to steal from cars. Does not help reporting them - nothing happens - me thinks they must have parents that work at the airport security as nothing gets done to remove them. Even heard last week that they are now tring to rob the people that walk to/from the garage/terminal buildings.
It is time their inefficiency is exposed
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Airport safety: Pilots worried
Johannesburg - International pilots are very concerned about security at South African airports and demand that government do something about it. Pilots are not only concerned about safety at Johannesburg International Airport, but the situation at Cape Town International is also a cause for concern. Captain Carl Hager, chairperson of the security committee of the Airlines Pilot's Association of South Africa, said they and its mother organisation, the International Federation of Airline Pilot's Association, were not at all happy with last week's incident when three policemen were wounded during an armed robbery inside the airport's security area. "We've complained in the past about similar incidents on the loading zone at Johannesburg International. We were told the problems would be solved. So what's next? What's the use having passengers' tweezers confiscated, when people can walk about on the loading zone with AK-47s?"
These fears come amid rumours that the management of Johannesburg International have been aware of the shortcomings in the security system for years, but have done nothing to rectify them. Former executive security chief Paul O'Sullivan said Acsa has known about security problems at Johannesburg International for years. In March 2002, shortly after robbers stole $9.5m cash on the loading zone, he pointed out 15 problem areas to Acsa's management. He said the security situation was so chaotic that he repeatedly requested his seniors to take airport security out of the hands of Johannesburg's airport managers and put it directly under his personal control. The request was refused. "Nobody at Acsa is willing to accept responsibility. Acsa must state how many people have lost their jobs as a result of security problems." Jacqui O'Sullivan, senior spokesperson for Acsa, said on Saturday the context of executive chief Monhla Hlahla's original comment was that she "would be personally responsible for airport security in co-operation with other interest groups". She said disciplinary action had been taken against employees, but didn't want to provide details. The spokesperson denied that Acsa was not doing enough to improve airport security. However, she couldn't provide details because of security concerns.
Johannesburg - International pilots are very concerned about security at South African airports and demand that government do something about it. Pilots are not only concerned about safety at Johannesburg International Airport, but the situation at Cape Town International is also a cause for concern. Captain Carl Hager, chairperson of the security committee of the Airlines Pilot's Association of South Africa, said they and its mother organisation, the International Federation of Airline Pilot's Association, were not at all happy with last week's incident when three policemen were wounded during an armed robbery inside the airport's security area. "We've complained in the past about similar incidents on the loading zone at Johannesburg International. We were told the problems would be solved. So what's next? What's the use having passengers' tweezers confiscated, when people can walk about on the loading zone with AK-47s?"
These fears come amid rumours that the management of Johannesburg International have been aware of the shortcomings in the security system for years, but have done nothing to rectify them. Former executive security chief Paul O'Sullivan said Acsa has known about security problems at Johannesburg International for years. In March 2002, shortly after robbers stole $9.5m cash on the loading zone, he pointed out 15 problem areas to Acsa's management. He said the security situation was so chaotic that he repeatedly requested his seniors to take airport security out of the hands of Johannesburg's airport managers and put it directly under his personal control. The request was refused. "Nobody at Acsa is willing to accept responsibility. Acsa must state how many people have lost their jobs as a result of security problems." Jacqui O'Sullivan, senior spokesperson for Acsa, said on Saturday the context of executive chief Monhla Hlahla's original comment was that she "would be personally responsible for airport security in co-operation with other interest groups". She said disciplinary action had been taken against employees, but didn't want to provide details. The spokesperson denied that Acsa was not doing enough to improve airport security. However, she couldn't provide details because of security concerns.
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Hi 4HP, I hear on the radio that Ms Sullivan now denies receiving complaints from SAAPA or ALPA....
A couple of weeks ago a potential bomb threat on C apron had us waiting for the SAPS to arrive for 50+ minutes. (We're still waiting).
A couple of weeks ago a potential bomb threat on C apron had us waiting for the SAPS to arrive for 50+ minutes. (We're still waiting).
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I think I would have to reconsider before landing at JIA with my valuable cargo, rather take it home and stach it under my bed in some trommel...... Seeing that a helo can land in the park next to my house. And it would be easy to get rid of the security gaurd with me, seeing he only has a 9mm.....
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124.8
Don't go there. A now deceased bloke I know of had a 9mm shoved in his ear when he had multiple engine failure (don't ask) and was ordered to restart the engines or have a small piece of lead inserted into his frontal lobe at high speed. Got out of that one but subsequently did himself and cojoe in.
Don't go there. A now deceased bloke I know of had a 9mm shoved in his ear when he had multiple engine failure (don't ask) and was ordered to restart the engines or have a small piece of lead inserted into his frontal lobe at high speed. Got out of that one but subsequently did himself and cojoe in.
