‘Armed’ passenger allowed to fly

Press, 30 June 1983, Page 1

‘Armed’ passenger allowed to fly

PA Wellington A man suspected of carrying a pistol at Wellington Airport was allowed to board a passenger aircraft and fly to Christchurch before being apprehended, said airport authorities yesterday. The pistol turned out to be a spectacle case carried in the jacket pocket of a Wellington businessman, Mr Kevin Baldwin, who says he was “absolutely humiliated” by the whole episode. But Mr Baldwin, who is a senior national sports administrator, is particularly concerned that he was left, supposedly armed, to fly to Christchurch before being approached. “If there had been any substance to that report I should never have been al-

lowed to leave the airport. The whole planeload of passengers was put at risk,” he said.

Mr Baldwin was seated directly behind the member of Parliament for Papanui, Mr M. K. Moore, during the flight. An Air New Zealand spokesman confirmed that a “suspicious bulge” was seen in Mr Baldwin’s jacket when he checked into the airport for the flight on Tuesday morning. “Our traffic clerk informed the police, but by the time Mr Baldwin was traced he was already on the plane,” he said. “The captain was advised, and the matter was reported to the Christchurch police.” It had not been considered necessary to recall the aircraft, the spokesman said.

Sergeant Laurie Fabish, of the airport police, said there had been an “error of judgment” in allowing the aircraft to take off with Mr Baldwin aboard. "The constable on duty was informed of the Air New Zealand staff member’s suspicions and finally tracked Mr Baldwin down as he was boarding the aircraft. The constable decided that Mr Baldwin did not look the type to be carrying a pistol and made an instant decision not to hold the flight but to inform Christchurch.

“The kindest thing I can say is that he erred in his judgment,” Mr Fabish said. “We will look into this further.”

Mr Baldwin said his apprehension by the police in

the Christchurch Airport terminal had been acutely embarrassing. He was greeting a business client when he was approached by a police sergeant, four constables, and five airport security staff. “It was my first contact with the law and I was fairly unnerved by it all,” he said. He was held for about 15 minutes while he and his bags were searched. Mr Baldwin said that when he flew back to Wellington yesterday he sought out the traffic clerk “to show him what a glasses case looked like.” “He tried to laugh it off as a joke but I told him I hoped that in his lifetime he would not be as humiliated as I had been,” Mr Baldwin said.