Lock out at CNS

[Deleted member 29185]

Just at CNS domestic and some clown doused themselves with petrol at check in! I think it was JQ check in. Absolute pandemonium right now!

 

[kalboy]

Someone wanting to go to Bali maybe... I can't say that dousing oneself in a volatile liquid helps your case very much.

 

[Deleted member 29185]

It's not helping tempers either!

 

[juddles]

Clearly JQ do not supply xx_XXL PJ's

 

[Melburnian1]

I assume that late running aircraft bound for SYD from CNS will be allowed to land well after 2300 tonight, because the 'exceptional circumstances' criteria (on my reading) required for a dispensation to be granted by the Minister's delegate from the SYD airport curfew is satisfied:

https://infrastructure.gov.au/aviat...ews/SydneyAirport/DispensationGuidelines.aspx

One example is JQ959 (A320 VH-VFU) that took off from CNS at 2056 tonight with (at 2115) 1757 kilometres still to fly. Flight Radar 24 claims its landing will be at 2256: this may not yet have been 'adjusted' as from observation many of this site's calculations change a few minutes after the flight has levelled out.

VA1426 is well ahead of the JQ flight and yet is shown as having an identical arrival time in SYD of 2256. They both cannot be correct, while QF927 is ahead of both and despite departing CNS about two hours late after its scheduled 1755 should make it with about half an hour to spare into SYD.

 

[Mick1969]

Nothing of substance to the article, but then again it is the Daily Telegraph:

Man in custody after Cairns Airport scare

 

[ozbeachbabe]

I assume that late running aircraft bound for SYD from CNS will be allowed to land well after 2300 tonight, because the 'exceptional circumstances' criteria (on my reading) required for a dispensation to be granted by the Minister's delegate from the SYD airport curfew is satisfied:

https://infrastructure.gov.au/aviat...ews/SydneyAirport/DispensationGuidelines.aspx

One example is JQ959 (A320 VH-VFU) that took off from CNS at 2056 tonight with (at 2115) 1757 kilometres still to fly. Flight Radar 24 claims its landing will be at 2256: this may not yet have been 'adjusted' as from observation many of this site's calculations change a few minutes after the flight has levelled out.

VA1426 is well ahead of the JQ flight and yet is shown as having an identical arrival time in SYD of 2256. They both cannot be correct, while QF927 is ahead of both and despite departing CNS about two hours late after its scheduled 1755 should make it with about half an hour to spare into SYD.

Flightaware seems to be more up to date with a revised time of 2247 for VA1426 but 2316 for JQ959 - will be interesting to see how that pans out.

 

[ozbeachbabe]

JQ959 continued its approach however it's final track was off the coast parallel to Maroubra flying south to Bundeena before turning right then over Kurnell and landed on RW16L at 2323.

 

[moa999]

Glad to see some common sense in Government

 

[JohnPhelan]

It helps when the Minister for Transport is NOT the local MP around the airport!!!

 

[Deleted member 29185]

The story I heard in the VA lounge last night was that a Korean guy had been earlier refused boarding and went away to steam about it all day and then return with some fuel and create havoc. As said, that was lounge scuttlebutt and may be accurate, or may be entirely wrong.

From a pax perspective, the lock out was actually handled pretty well. I arrived from int about 10 minutes after it all started and my immediate thoughts were "bloody school holidays....look at the crowd here......thank God for the lounge"! From my observation, the detention of the guy happened rapidly and without further incident (thankfully). The emergency crews were on scene extremely quickly (amazingly so, as they were there and in full swing by the time I arrived so I'd suggest they must have been at the terminal within minutes of the alarm being raised), the AFP acted swiftly in locking the place down and the evacuation was as smooth as can be expected.

The fall down in the whole scenario, was the pax's. About an hour after the start, pax were being instructed to make their way to the southern terminal door to be reunited with their luggage. Well, an hour and a half later, there were still people wandering up and saying "my bag is in there, I need to get it". All in all, we waited outside until about 7.30 (incident began about 5.15) before they started the difficult process of dealing with the pax. They asked all pax on the first 4 flights (JQ to PER, JQ to SYD, VA to SYD and one other) to move to the taxi rank, where they undertook check in for them and then brought them into the terminal for security screening and immediate boarding. I believe JQ to SYD took off first followed by VA to SYD (but I can't be sure of that as by that time I made it into the sanctuary of the lounge). That check in went remarkable smoothly......in fact I'd almost suggest it went far smoother than the normal terminal check in......who says we shouldn't adopt curb-side check in .

In the end, my flight (VA790) was only delayed about an hour, so that was a pleasant surprise.....given the situation. It appeared to me that the staff all acted exceptionally well and very professionally however it did mean everyone, from toddlers to elderly people, were standing for two and half hours and I overheard a number of people saying they were desperate to visit the lavatory . I guess if it was so desperate, the int terminal was still open but it'd also be true that many pax would not even be aware it's over there within a fairly short walking distance.

Overall, ignoring the selfish idiot who caused it all, the situation was handled well and everyone involved should be congratulated. The only comment I could make, is that the AFP perhaps should have relocated all the abandoned luggage to just one area and start security screening of everyone else. That would have sped the process up by about an hour in my estimation, but I do recognise there would be security implications even with that.

 

[Melburnian1]

swanning_it, excellent photos and information.

The JQ flight to SYD was the last of the three Sydney flights to depart (QF was first, then VA) with the JQ flight when I last checked last night on track to touch down at 2322 hours in SYD, presumably receiving a dispensation from the Minister's delegate to do this as I discussed above.

 

[Deleted member 29185]

swanning_it, excellent photos and information.

The JQ flight to SYD was the last of the three Sydney flights to depart (QF was first, then VA) with the JQ flight when I last checked last night on track to touch down at 2322 hours in SYD, presumably receiving a dispensation from the Minister's delegate to do this as I discussed above.

Yes, I wasn't entirely sure, as I was relaxing with a glass of bubbly by that stage.

 

[moa999]

So to understand what happened here.

The guy was landside and create a scene. Security dealt with him within 10min, but in the meantime they evacuated both landside and airside and kept everyone out of the terminal for at least an hour?

 

[Deleted member 29185]

So to understand what happened here.

The guy was landside and create a scene. Security dealt with him within 10min, but in the meantime they evacuated both landside and airside and kept everyone out of the terminal for at least an hour?

Sort of. Yes he was dealt with quickly. The place was evacuated totally, which was understandable in my opinion. It was a 2.5 hour delay though, largely because (I believe), the whole terminal had to be searched, planes had to be searched and unattended luggage was everywhere, which had to reunited with the owners, in a safe manner. I too thought the delay was longer than required except when I started thinking about the task. What better way for a terrorist to deposit a......well, bomb for example...... than to firstly create a diversion and pandemonium, only to detonate it as hundreds of people are crowding back inside? In fact, wasn't that what caused the most casualties in the Bali atrocity? As one of those pax, I decided my two and half hours of standing around was an acceptable side effect of the authorities trying to ensure my (and hundreds of other innocent people's), safety.

 

[under the radar]

think of the alternative...when all airports in oz are forced to have security/scanning BEFORE YOU ENTER A TERMINAL... we in this country are afforded many freedoms that some take for granted...and some abuse!!!

 

[ozbeachbabe]

The story I heard in the VA lounge last night was that a Korean guy had been earlier refused boarding and went away to steam about it all day and then return with some fuel and create havoc. As said, that was lounge scuttlebutt and may be accurate, or may be entirely wrong.

Failed his uni exams & too ashamed to go back home perhaps? Not the first time it's happened.

As above, only speculating.