Fed: Passengers, crew member get award for subduing man

AAP General News (Australia)
08-12-2004
Fed: Passengers, crew member get award for subduing man

EDS: STRICTLY EMBARGOED UNTIL 0001 AEST THURSDAY AUGUST 12



By Max Blenkin

CANBERRA, Aug 12 AAP - Seven passengers and a crew member aboard a Qantas flight have
been recognised for their bravery in subduing a crazed man who believed God had chosen
him to crash the plane.

They are among 66 individuals and two groups whose courage has been commended in the
latest bravery honours announced today by Governor-General Michael Jeffery.

Heading the list are two Queensland truck drivers, Geoffrey Robinson of Bundaberg and
Dennis Savage of Gracemere, awarded the Star of Courage - the second highest award - for
rescuing a man from a burning petrol tanker in September 2002.

The citations for Mr Robinson and Mr Savage describe a frightening series of events
as they struggled to free the injured driver from the cabin of the overturned tanker,
aware it might explode at any moment.

They finally dragged the man free after smashing the tanker's windscreen with a fire
extinguisher. Five minutes later, a fireball consumed the vehicle.

The drama aboard Qantas flight 1737 started soon after the aircraft took off from Melbourne
on May 29 last year.

A man, armed with sharpened wooden stakes, aerosol cans and cigarette lighters, approached
the cabin gallery and stabbed a female flight attendant.

The purser, Gregory Khan, of Sandy Bay in Tasmania, tried to stop the man and was stabbed
repeatedly to the back of his head as he struggled with the man.

Seven passengers came to his aid, wrestling with the offender and finally subduing him.

A court was later told the man, David Robinson, 41, from Melbourne, was a paranoid
schizophrenic who believed God had chosen him to crash the plane to rid the world of the
devil.

He was detained in a psychiatric hospital after being found not guilty on the grounds
of insanity.

Mr Khan was awarded the Bravery Medal while the seven passengers were awarded commendations
for brave conduct.

The awards list shows bravery isn't exclusively an adult business.

The youngest recipient was eight-year-old Caleb Bodycote, of Elizabeth Downs in South
Australia, who was commended for brave conduct in steering a car carrying his family to
a safe halt after his father had a seizure.

Ten-year-old Ashleigh Lancaster, of Hampton Park, Victoria was awarded the Bravery
Medal for saving a young girl caught in a rip at a Victorian beach.

A 14-member council meets twice a year to assess bravery nominations, working on the
basis that bravery is demonstrated when someone's conscious choice and deliberate act
places him or her in greater danger.

AAP mb/sb/tnf/jlw

KEYWORD: BRAVERY (EMBARGOED)

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