HIJACK ABOARD JOY FLIGHT
With his two kids by his side, an armed man ordered a Sea World chopper pilot to fly to Brisbane where a tense stand-off with police ensued
A SAWN-OFF shotgun, a hijacked helicopter, a desperate father and his children, spilt aviation fuel and a police negotiator trying to end a siege broadcast live on all television networks.
It had all the ingredients of a Hollywood thriller but the 1985 hijacking of a Gold Coast helicopter in the skies over Narrowneck came so close to going wrong. The event, which played out over a cold day 35 years ago, shocked Australia and gripped a nation watching for its conclusion.
It all began on Friday, July 26 when Milomir “Michael’’ Petrovic travelled from his Brisbane home to the Gold Coast with his two children, Dennis, 8, and Diana, 4.
Petrovic went to Sea World on The Spit and met with helicopter pilot Reg Metcalfe who he hired to fly a sightseeing tour of the coastline to Brisbane.
Everything seemed normal but as the flight crossed over Narrowneck things took a turn for the dramatic as the Alexandria Hills man declared he had a bomb in his bag and demanded Metcalfe fly him to a US Air Force base in Japan.
Petrovic told the pilot he was being chased by communists.
“He (Petrovic) looked a bit spacey and a little uneasy, but his initial request to hire the helicopter for an extended scenic flight, arriving at Brisbane airport for a connecting plane to Melbourne by 4pm was reasonably normal,’’ Mr Metcalfe told media nearly a year after the incident.
“At first I did not believe it. I turned around and saw he had his hand in his bag. About a minute later, I went to turn around again, felt something cold and clammy at the back of my head and decided to do exactly what he said.’’
The pilot pressed the hijack button and kept his microphone open throughout the flight.
He maintained the pretence of giving a tour of the area, naming locations of interest which also told police where he was.
The helicopter arrived at Brisbane Airport and a fuel tanker was brought in to refuel the craft. Mr Metcalfe managed to escape but was shot at by Petrovic.
The crisis created chaos as all flights in and out of Brisbane Airport were cancelled or redirected and police sealed off the area, putting more than 25 snipers in locations around the helipad.
The major TV networks began broadcasting live, knocking popular afternoon soap Days of our Lives off the air as police negotiators Ron Strong and Constable Denver Monley went to work.
Petrovic, 41, was recently divorced but had won custody of his children. His children, apparently unconcerned about the drama unfolding, took snapshots and walked around their father as he fired his gun into the air.
Petrovic had released some of the fuel from a nearby truck and threatened to ignite it but Sgt Strong convinced him to put his gun down.
“He put the gun down and came up and I just put my arm around his shoulder, picked up his little girl and it was all over,” Sgt Strong said at the time.
Petrovic, however, was never charged in relation to the incident – he was later found to be insane by the Mental Health Tribunal.
Sgt Strong and Const. Monley were hailed as heroes for their actions.