Fri, May 30, 2003
Canadian PAX Called A "Quiet Hero"
They only knew his first name - a purser aboard Qantas Flight
1737 from Melbourne to Launceston, Australia (shown below at gate
back in Melbourne). But they credit him and a passenger, both, with
saving their lives, when a 40-year-old man apparently went berserk
and attacked crewmembers with two sharpened wood stakes, a
cigarette lighter and a can of aerosol spray.
Derek Finlay, a former UN peacekeeper, watched in stunned horror
as the hijacking suspect bound out of his seat and attacked the
Boeing's purser, identified only as Greg. Finlay says the suspect
used a sharp wooden stick to stab Greg repeatedly. "I heard a woman
scream and the flight attendant fell backwards with the guy
stabbing to his head," he said. "There were heaps of stabs as fast
as he could go. I tackled him to the ground and six people or so
also tackled him."
Former UN Peacekeeper Tries To Restore The Peace
Passengers say Finlay (right, shown with his
partner, the Mayor of Launceston) may well have saved their lives.
But Finlay doesn't see it that way. "It's the purser who was heroic
- he was stabbed in the head but still managed to push the attacker
back into the plane and then was helped by male passengers," he
said.
"Greg is definitely the hero, he thanked me and I thanked him
and I definitely want to get in contact with him," he said. Again
dismissing his own courage, he said: "I saw a someone stabbing a
person so I was more worried about that."
Greg and a flight attendant who was also stabbed in the neck and
head, were rushed to a Melbourne hospital, where they are now
listed in stable condition.
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