We recently featured jumbo animals, today we feature jumbo jets, well, perhaps their baby cousins…
Between October 1975 and October 1976, 761 flying hours were reported to have been completed by the new Police Air Wing, in that year’s Queensland Police Annual Report. The Air Wing was equipped with two 1962 Cessna 180E aircraft, purchased from the Army and based at Archerfield. The unit performed many operations including transporting police, prisoners and equipment between regional centres for extradition and court appearances, traffic and drug surveillance, and aerial photography to assist in solving crimes. These fixed wing aircraft were also used extensively in air-sea searches for missing persons and vessels at sea, and the unit worked closely with the Brisbane Water Police.
Sergeant Bob Doneman and Senior Constable Mal Lynch, Police pilots standing in front of a police aircraft, Cessna 180E, c1976.
Image No. PM2906 Courtesy of the Queensland Police Museum.
In 1982 the Police Air Wing operated three twin engine aircraft. The Cessna 402B carried six passengers, was an all-weather aircraft providing excellent capability for flying into rough unprepared aerodromes. It serviced the northern and western areas of Queensland. The Cessna 421C also carried six passengers and conducted transport services for northern and central Queensland. The Cessna 441 had capacity for seven passengers, and was an all-weather pressurized prop-jet. It was used throughout Queensland and interstate for high speed, high altitude transport operations. It was available 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, and was used to transport specialised police personnel direct to areas where their services were urgently needed.
The cockpit of the TAA DC9 (now QANTAS) aircraft high-jacked about 19:40 hours on 8 June 1979.
Image No. PM0238 Courtesy of the Queensland Police Museum.
From police planes to policing commercial aircraft, on 8th June 1979 at about 19:40 hours, a TAA DC9 (now QANTAS) aircraft was high-jacked after take-off from Coolangatta Airport. While en route to Brisbane a 36 year old male passenger took control of the aircraft, menacing the Captain and crew with a 12 gauge sawn-off shotgun. The man was overpowered by the crew. In 1981 the man was convicted of hi-jacking and sentenced to ten years imprisonment.
__________________
This information has been supplied by the Queensland Police Museum from the best resources available. The article was written by Police Museum Assistant Georgia Grier. The Police Museum is open 9am to 4pm Monday to Friday and 10am to 3pm on the last Sunday of the month (Feb-Nov) and is located on the Ground Floor of Police Headquarters at 200 Roma Street, Brisbane. Contact: E: museum@police.qld.gov.au
“FROM the VAULT – Jumbo Jet Policing” by the Queensland Police Service is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution (BY) 2.5 Australia Licence. Permissions may be available beyond the scope of this licence. http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.5/au/legalcode