The Pacific: General Aviation & Questions The place for students, instructors and charter guys in Oz, NZ and the rest of Oceania.

Gunpoint horror in PNG

Old 29th Nov 2007, 07:22
  #1 (permalink)  
Thread Starter
 
Join Date: Mar 2003
Location: left, no no, right, ah just there
Posts: 36
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes on 0 Posts
Gunpoint horror in PNG

A GROUP of millionaire businessmen have fled to Cairns on an emergency private jet flight from Papua New Guinea after police and military accused them of being terrorists who planned to assassinate visiting UK royal Prince Richard.
In an exclusive interview with The Cairns Post just hours after landing yesterday, pilot Jorn Heilberg said the group was stopped at gunpoint at a road block in northern PNG and held under machine-gun guard for more than 24 hours.
The group of six had previously been met by armed police and soldiers as their jet landed in PNG but were released after more than three hours of questioning.
Their second ordeal started on Monday afternoon when they were then stopped at a road block in Wewak on the northern coast of PNG.
"We were on our way back from visiting a war memorial when we approached a road block with one truck full of military soldiers and another full of police," Mr Heilberg said.
"They were very aggressive, they confiscated our passports and electronic equipment and took us to our hotel, where they searched us and our rooms."
Mr Heilberg said their small hotel was surrounded by up to 15 soldiers wielding machine guns as officers searched their belongings.
The group’s passports, cameras and laptops were confiscated.
"Then they took us to the police station and questioned us individually," he said.
"One of the officers said to me, ‘I’m going to take you in my car so you can show me where the bomb is’.
"They were paranoid and accused us of planting a bomb to kill the Duke of Gloucester.
"They took our phones because one of the officers said that mobiles are the best way to trigger a bomb."
Mr Heilberg said officers accused the group of being "state sponsored terrorists and mercenaries" who were in PNG to assassinate the Duke of Gloucester Prince Richard, the Queen’s first cousin.
Prince Richard is on a five-day visit to the country to celebrate the 50th anniversary of St John Ambulance in PNG and meet government officials.
"Eventually, when they decided not to lock us up, they got rid of us instead," Mr Heilberg said.
On Tuesday afternoon, another member of the group was escorted under armed guard to a bank to withdraw money to pay for their plane’s fuel.
PNG police told the group the Australian High Commission fast tracked a flight plan so they could immediately leave the country and land at Cairns International Airport.
The group of IT entrepreneurs and investors from across Europe were resting at the Cairns International Hotel yesterday.
They will fly to Sydney today as part their round-the-world adventure holiday in a single-engine Pilatus PC-12.
Ohhhhh Please!!!!!!!
markben is offline  
Old 29th Nov 2007, 09:56
  #2 (permalink)  
 
Join Date: Jun 2001
Location: FNQ ... It's Permanent!
Posts: 4,281
Received 162 Likes on 83 Posts
Will they be investing in PNG then?
Capt Fathom is offline  
Old 29th Nov 2007, 11:42
  #3 (permalink)  


PPRuNeaholic
 
Join Date: Jun 2000
Location: Cairns FNQ
Posts: 3,255
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes on 0 Posts
Well I guess it wouldn't do to say that they'd been to PNG and found the place boring...
OzExpat is offline  
Old 29th Nov 2007, 11:58
  #4 (permalink)  
Thread Starter
 
Join Date: Mar 2003
Location: left, no no, right, ah just there
Posts: 36
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes on 0 Posts
Brings new meaning to "Expect the Unexpected!"
markben is offline  
Old 29th Nov 2007, 12:31
  #5 (permalink)  
 
Join Date: Jan 2002
Location: Another Desert
Posts: 70
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes on 0 Posts
Not the only ones who didn't find it boring this week

http://news.ninemsn.com.au/article.aspx?id=326891
giddy up is offline  
Old 29th Nov 2007, 22:23
  #6 (permalink)  
Thread Starter
 
Join Date: Mar 2003
Location: left, no no, right, ah just there
Posts: 36
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes on 0 Posts
Hey Giddy Up not quite this week...........
http://www.pprune.org/forums/showthread.php?t=301104
markben is offline  
Old 29th Nov 2007, 23:19
  #7 (permalink)  
 
Join Date: Oct 2006
Location: Sydney
Posts: 131
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes on 0 Posts
Who is Prince Richard?

Oh, I see: This guy. Love the medals.



Crosshair is offline  
Old 1st Dec 2007, 02:29
  #8 (permalink)  
 
Join Date: Jul 2005
Location: Earth
Posts: 247
Received 9 Likes on 7 Posts
Yo...

The PNGDF security team (what ??) must have been tearing their hair out trying to protect a bloke who likes to wander around wearing big white crosses. No wonder they roughed up the IT guys.

Yeah Crosshair... the first set of gongs ever worn on the front of a Batman cape !
The Wawa Zone is offline  

Posting Rules
You may not post new threads
You may not post replies
You may not post attachments
You may not edit your posts

BB code is On
Smilies are On
[IMG] code is On
HTML code is Off
Trackbacks are Off
Pingbacks are Off
Refbacks are Off


Thread Tools
Search this Thread

Contact Us - Archive - Advertising - Cookie Policy - Privacy Statement - Terms of Service

Copyright © 2024 MH Sub I, LLC dba Internet Brands. All rights reserved. Use of this site indicates your consent to the Terms of Use.