Who's going to speculate about the issue with the old bloke then?

Anyone care to elaborate on his state of mind? Was it a conscious decision by Les or has he had some sort of "episode"?

And those in the know is BFP going to be flown out or trucked out?

VB

I reckon God told him to do it.

Another intriguing fact is that he hired a twin just to go and sign some papers when a cheaper single would do. I suspect he held an endorsement on the Dutchess judging by some photos.

Maybe he'd simply reached the limit of his bladder and needed a pit-stop...

Not by any means in the same category I know, but it did bring to mind an incident I had many years ago. I had just completed a flight around the patch in a Cessna showing a family member the local area. It was his first flight in a light aircraft and he was somewhat excited. Right after we touched down he gave me a great slap on the back saying great flight well done! I guess he figured that with wheels on the ground the flight was over. Now I realize a 172 does not land at a great amount of knots, but I tell you we nearly ran off the bloody runway!

What counts against a hijacking attempt is that he apparently did not attempt to disable the pilot, but only to grab the controls. He could not realistically expect the pilot to meekly hand over. If he "switched off the engines" as claimed, it's either a suicide attempt or a bizarre, fantasy enactment. If the latter, it's unlikely that you would remember absolutely nothing. In those rare situations people usually snap out of it after a short while. Hollywood loves those scenarios.
However, at this stage, the reporting is rarely accurate anyway.

I suppose I am cynical, but no doubt the regulator will now be all over the operator checking CAO 20.11 status and other paper work.

Dementia comes to mind.

Also the unfortunate Qantas pilot with the compulsion to close the fuel levers on the 747!

Dementia fits loss of memory, but less so the shutting down of engines and the selection of an expensive vehicle for a trivial job.
The Qantas pilot had another business going in Mauritius and was allegedly intending to leave. He got his loss of licence insurance. There was and still is a reasonable doubt about the authenticity of his 'urge'.

That must have been terrifying in those first few minutes. You can hear the fear and surprise in that audio.

Well done to the pilot.

If it was dementia then an interview with the family is required? How did he get to the airport? Does he have a drivers license? Is he going to jump the driver next time he catches the 389 to Bondi? Something don't add up here?

Lets wait for more facts!

We have at this stage only one account of the events in the cockpit.

You don't get to go to heaven if you take your own life so we can rule suicide out.

He never got his hands on them and nor did he intend to. He couldn't fly for nuts, was an unsuccessful businessman on the side and wanted to be certified as a loony so that he could collect the loss of licence insurance. He's still at it. Have a look at his website.

Home run!!

So you're suggesting James the 23 year old CPL has no integrity and decided to smack about some 82 year old religeous guy who has conveniently forgotten what happened? :ugh:

"The passenger was taken to hospital with a leg injury"

Maybe he did stab him with the HB pencil!

What an ugly situation to find yourself in; poor guy will struggle to trust anyone again.

Poor old BFP. I remember her well - she used to belong to CavPower in YPAD.

DF.

I read somewhere that Nixon's licence was no longer current. Was it because of a medical issue?

It will be interesting to read an informed report.

Some occurrences like this (irrational sometimes violent behaviour which the person has no recollection of) can be because of an undiagnosed brain tumour.
Lets hope the Pilot gets back in the seat ASAP and the old Bloke ends up ok.