Qantas Psycho Hijacking Attempt
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Qantas Psycho Hijacking Attempt
It only begs the question - how do you argue in court that restraining this crackpots arms and legs, was an appropriate response and that it would be an efficient restraint of his (allegedly) sinister mind?? And how do you maintain that someone "thinking about" bringing a plane down is a credible threat?
It's going to be interesting to see how this one plays out..........
From the ABC news website 24 minutes ago
Man threatens to bring plane down with mind
Singapore Police are questioning a man who threatened to bring down a Qantas flight from Singapore to Sydney.
The man was restrained by flight stewards after he made threats to disrupt QF31 using mind power.
According to ABC reporter Nick Luchinelli, who was onboard the flight, it seemed the middle-aged man was either under the influence of drugs or alcohol - or possibly both.
He was suffering some sort of delusion and people who were sitting close to him in the next row said he was threatening to use the power of his mind to being the flight down.
The stewards had to take the threat seriously so he had both his arms and legs cuffed, and remained that way for the rest of the flight.
Singaporean Police boarded the flight after passengers disembarked.
It's going to be interesting to see how this one plays out..........
From the ABC news website 24 minutes ago
Man threatens to bring plane down with mind
Singapore Police are questioning a man who threatened to bring down a Qantas flight from Singapore to Sydney.
The man was restrained by flight stewards after he made threats to disrupt QF31 using mind power.
According to ABC reporter Nick Luchinelli, who was onboard the flight, it seemed the middle-aged man was either under the influence of drugs or alcohol - or possibly both.
He was suffering some sort of delusion and people who were sitting close to him in the next row said he was threatening to use the power of his mind to being the flight down.
The stewards had to take the threat seriously so he had both his arms and legs cuffed, and remained that way for the rest of the flight.
Singaporean Police boarded the flight after passengers disembarked.
Last edited by Red Jet; 5th Apr 2010 at 19:58.
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That he was acting in a fashion that was beginning to cause alarm among the other passengers and there was a reasonable fear, in the minds of the flight attendants, that he could become agitated and physical.
An argument along those lines would suffice. I don't think any court would take exception to the deprivation of liberty on the part of the cabin crew given recent history.
An argument along those lines would suffice. I don't think any court would take exception to the deprivation of liberty on the part of the cabin crew given recent history.
that restraining this crackpots arms and legs, was an appropriate response and that it would be an efficient restraint of his (allegedly) sinister mind??
Incohate offences
Normally you must actually commit an offence to be convicted of it.
However, circumstances commonly arise where it is desirable to have a legal avenue to stop an offence that has not yet been committed, while still punishing the offender with a suitably serious sentence.
Thus we have "attempted" crimes and "conspiracy" crimes.
I cannot remember the details of the case but there is a precedent where an Irish separatist group were conspiring to murder one of the English Royals through some daft and improbable scheme that (for whatever reason) would never have succeeded.
They were found guilty of conspiracy nonetheless.
Our friend made threats to the safety of the aircraft and (without reading the legislation) that, I suspect, is an offence in and of itself. The means by which he proposed to carry out his threat is somewhat immaterial.
Cheers
However, circumstances commonly arise where it is desirable to have a legal avenue to stop an offence that has not yet been committed, while still punishing the offender with a suitably serious sentence.
Thus we have "attempted" crimes and "conspiracy" crimes.
I cannot remember the details of the case but there is a precedent where an Irish separatist group were conspiring to murder one of the English Royals through some daft and improbable scheme that (for whatever reason) would never have succeeded.
They were found guilty of conspiracy nonetheless.
Our friend made threats to the safety of the aircraft and (without reading the legislation) that, I suspect, is an offence in and of itself. The means by which he proposed to carry out his threat is somewhat immaterial.
Cheers
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Just a thought...
"The stewards had to take the threat seriously so he had both his arms and legs cuffed, and remained that way for the rest of the flight.
Singaporean Police boarded the flight after passengers disembarked."
...I was just wondering what the Singaporean Police were doing in Sydney...
Since the post quoted it as a Singapore to Sydney flight.
Cheers...FD...
"The stewards had to take the threat seriously so he had both his arms and legs cuffed, and remained that way for the rest of the flight.
Singaporean Police boarded the flight after passengers disembarked."
...I was just wondering what the Singaporean Police were doing in Sydney...
Since the post quoted it as a Singapore to Sydney flight.
Cheers...FD...
Media at it again Nunc est bibendum
My old man was on the flight last night. I just spoke to him to make sure that it wasn't him who was causing all the ruckus. He indicated that the loon concerned had been a bit weird in the terminal before hand also and was seated a row behind him on the aircraft. Behaviour included being 'inappropriate' with other passengers waiting and so on. Singaporean police were, as usual, pretty efficient at getting him off the aeroplane in SIN.
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I just spoke to him to make sure that it wasn't him who was causing all the ruckus.
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Two points:
1. my understanding is that applicable laws & regulations will contain something about "refusing to comply with a reasonable request from the crew". If he hasn't so complied, then strictly liability on that point alone - let alone what he might have deluded himself into thinking he might be able to do.
2. I don't think much of this will matter as he'll be up before the Singapore authorities and (agreeing with Drop Bear Ten) I'm not sure that they are likely to look at certain proffered defences in the same way that other jurisdictions might... Unfortunately trying to argue that you must by definition be nuts trying-on something like this heading into Singapore will likewise most likely meet with a blank stare.
1. my understanding is that applicable laws & regulations will contain something about "refusing to comply with a reasonable request from the crew". If he hasn't so complied, then strictly liability on that point alone - let alone what he might have deluded himself into thinking he might be able to do.
2. I don't think much of this will matter as he'll be up before the Singapore authorities and (agreeing with Drop Bear Ten) I'm not sure that they are likely to look at certain proffered defences in the same way that other jurisdictions might... Unfortunately trying to argue that you must by definition be nuts trying-on something like this heading into Singapore will likewise most likely meet with a blank stare.
Last edited by Taildragger67; 6th Apr 2010 at 07:15.
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How many times have drunk or mentaly unbalanced passengers been allowed to board a/c by ground staff, even though the pax had been seen to be a potential problem at the gate ? Airlines should be more vigilent and indeed have a duty of care to ensure that it doesn't happen.
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He's not fit to be called a psycho
He was suffering some sort of delusion and people who were sitting close to him in the next row said he was threatening to use the power of his mind to being the flight down.
You think you know the human brain, then BANG. suddenly someone displays absolute pure genious, a cerebral giant walking amongst mere mortals. It is true that no true genious is recognised in their own lifetime.
Of course if I can be so bold as to speculate. I think where his plan went awry was when he used his mind to BEING the flight down instead of BRING the flight down. But then I'm sure that's just a typo as that's the sort of mistake that a rookie would make, not a master of the cranial arts.
Then again, what kind of restraints do QANTAS use? Metal or plastic? The military use plastic because of it's well documented ability to block mind projection.
Don't believe me? Try googling "the men who stare at goats". The movie is a p!sstake but the fact is that the U$ gov spent millions on studying mind projection.
how do you argue in court that restraining this crackpots arms and legs, was an appropriate response
I don't think much of this will matter as he'll be up before the Singapore authorities
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Were his legs really restrained for the duration of the flight? I find that hard to believe.... most airlines procedures are arms only, in case of the need for evacuation. And yes,the restraints are plastic.
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Is this loon an Aussie? Hell, I dont really care which part of the galaxy he is from, I just love the stooooopidity of doing this going into SIN! As others have pointed out above, I am sure the locals will deal with this in an appropriate manner, unlike the wrist-slappers we laughingly have here.