Australian plane owner charged over ‘black flight’ to Indonesia

SYDNEY – An Australian aircraft owner appeared in court on March 12 charged with people smuggling after allegedly helping two fugitives flee to Indonesia on a “black flight” from a remote peninsula, the police said.

Indonesian officials detained four men in the Merauke district of Indonesia’s easternmost region of Papua upon arrival in November, after the small fixed-wing aircraft’s two pilots failed to declare their two passengers in documents.

An investigation found one man was on bail for alleged kidnapping offences in Sydney, and the other was wanted for alleged drug trafficking, the Australian Federal Police said.

The pair travelled thousands of kilometres from Sydney to Australia’s north-eastern tip, boarding the plane at a remote indigenous fishing town on the Cape York peninsula in Queensland.

The plane flew with its transponder turned off until it reached international waters, police said.

A “black flight” typically sees planes log false flight plans, fly at low altitude or turn off their transponders in a bid to evade detection by authorities.

“This was a very sophisticated strategy to exit Australia,” detective superintendent Adrian Telfer told reporters.

Police allege the 43-year-old owner of an aviation company in Rockhampton, Queensland, coordinated the escape.

He appeared in court on March 12, charged with people smuggling offences that carry a maximum penalty of 10 years in jail.

The man was granted bail and did not enter a plea, a court official said.

The four men on the flight remain detained in Indonesia, police said.

The authorities have stepped up surveillance of Australia’s vast northern coastline.

The federal police in February vowed to crack down on “black flights” operating across the vast and porous border between Queensland and Papua New Guinea over community concerns about drug trafficking and regional security. AFP