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FROM the VAULT: Eagle Farm Siege

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Around noon on Friday 26 July 1985, Michael Petrovic, 41 of Alexandra Hills, Brisbane, entered the Seaworld complex at the Gold Coast and arranged a four hour helicopter ride for his two children. As Petrovic has sold his trucking business just months before he easily covered the $2,000 flight fee. While in the air over Currumbin, Petrovic pulled a sawn-off shotgun on the pilot and demanded to be flown to a US airbase in Japan.  An hour into the flight the helicopter landed at Brisbane Airport at Eagle Farm for alleged refuelling.  In a desperate attempt to further his demands the gunman took hold of the tanker fuel hose and sprayed the tarmac with aviation fuel and fired two warning shots.

Image courtesy The Daily Sun, 27th July 1985
Image courtesy The Daily Sun, 27th July 1985

Petrovic’s actions were believed to be caused by the outcome of his divorce case, which had been heard in the Brisbane Family Court the previous week.  During the stand-off with the Police Emergency Squad, Petrovic continued pouring aviation fuel onto the ground and onto his children. Police resisted pleas to shoot the gunman and called in negotiators Sergeant Ron Strong and Constable Denver Monley. Strong struck up a conversation with the gunman and bonded with him after calling Petrovic his Slavic name ‘Mischa’ and providing assurances that he would personally take care of Pertovic’s children once he surrendered. After more than four hours of negotiations, Petrovic finally gave himself up.

Sergeant Ronald Strong and
Sergeant Ronald Strong and Constable Denver Monley
accepting an appreciation award from Seven National News
Image courtesy Queensland Police Museum

In 1986 both officers received Favourable Records from Assistant Commissioner Ron Redmond for their actions during the siege at Eagle Farm Airport.  In 1989, Ronald Vincent Strong was awarded the Australia Bravery Medal for his actions and in 1994, Senior Sergeant Strong was also awarded the National Medal, for diligent service to the community in hazardous circumstances, including times of emergency and national disaster.  Ronald Strong retired from the Service in 2003 at the rank of Inspector.


This information has been supplied by the Queensland Police Museum from the best resources available at the time of writing.  The Police Museum is open 9am to 4pm Monday to Thursday 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: Eagle Farm Siege” by Researcher Dr Anastasia Dukova 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


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