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Flight plan to terror (Article 1)
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Leader - Moorabbin-December
12, 2001
Author: KATE HAGAN
DISCOVERING he had helped teach a suspected terrorist to fly left a
former Moorabbin-based flying instructor numb, the man said at the
weekend.
Former Civil Flying School instructor Brad Fuller said the experience
had sent a chill down his spine.
Mr Fuller said he helped train Mohammad Afroze to fly at Moorabbin
Airport in 1997.
Afroze has since been arrested by Indian police in connection with an
alleged plot to fly hijacked aircraft into targets in Australia and
overseas.
But Mr Fuller said his pupil was less than gifted.
``He seemed more interested in just looking out the window and enjoying
the view than actually learning to fly,'' he said.
``It all makes a creepy sense now, because when I flew with him in the
aeroplane, most of the time I had a full-time battle just trying to
keep his attention.
``If he never had any intent of pursuing a career as an airline pilot,
he was simply learning to fly with the intent of committing a heinous
act and was only going to absorb the minimum amount of information to
be able to perform such a task.''
Afroze paid almost $20,000 to be trained at the Civil Flying School,
but Mr Fuller said he had trouble executing basic aeroplane manoeuvres.
A former chief flying instructor at the school, Joe Ferlazzo, said
Afroze had been told to abandon the course.
``We were concerned that whoever was paying for him was wasting their
money we have a moral duty to tell students who are not doing
well that they are wasting their time,'' Mr Ferlazzo said.
``It's then up to them to decide if they stay on. Mr Afroze decided
that he could.''
Afroze, in his late 20s, arrived in Australia in 1997 and initially
boarded with Gaynor Brunner, in Hampton. She said he often cried for
hours in his room.
Afroze later stayed at a house near Moorabbin Airport before moving to
Bentleigh.
He lived in a Bentleigh townhouse with two other Indian trainee pilots,
while still attending the Moorabbin flying school in 1997 and 1998.
A couple who lived next door said they were invited to dinner by the
trio, who served them curry.
``Afroze was much quieter and less friendly than the other two,'' the
neighbour said.
``He couldn't even drive a car let alone fly a plane.''
Afroze frequented Wild Bill's Saloon Bar at Southland, and was believed
to be a regular at the Mahan Indian Restaurant in Parkdale.
He visited bars and brothels around Melbourne and prayed at the City
Mosque in West Melbourne.
Edition: 1 - MSV
Section: News
Page: 011
Record Number:
MSV-20011212-1-011-4098066V5 Copyright, 2001, Nationwide News Pty
Limited
http://docs.newsbank.com/s/InfoWeb/aggdocs/AUNB/0FD081283733C3D9/343E0D3CC2874A6492398787E2C8F018
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Terrorist link probe (Article 2)
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Leader - Moorabbin-December 12, 2001
Author: KATE HAGAN AND MICHELLE RAFFERTY
A MAN with alleged links to Osama bin Laden's al-Qaeda terrorist
network may have trained as a pilot at a Moorabbin airport training
school in 1997 and 1998.
Indian security police last month arrested Mombai-born Mohammad Afroze,
who told them of his plans to crash hijacked planes into targets,
including Melbourne's Rialto Towers, and London's Tower Bridge and
Houses of Parliament.
And a local real estate agent has claimed he was approached by an Iraqi
company seeking short-term office space near the Moorabbin airport,
while its staff carried out flight training.
Mordialloc State Liberal MP Geoff Leigh said the real estate report
came from ``a very reliable source'' he had known for some years. They
were brought to the attention of the Federal police some weeks ago.
``I understand that the Federal police have been down to the airport on
more than one occasion and the airport corporation has co-operated in
every way it could.
``They must have always had suspicions about Moorabbin, because it's
one of the busiest flight training airports in the southern
hemisphere.''
The Federal police were unable to comment on any follow-up matters from
September 11, but a spokeswoman for Federal Attorney-General Daryl
Williams said state and territory police had investigated records of
anybody trained in Australia in recent years including those
at
Moorabbin airport.
Mr Williams said though reports suggesting a terrorist plot against
Australia were based only on claims made by one man detained in India,
he said: ``The changed international security environment, since
September 11, requires that we must treat any allegations seriously.
Australian security and intelligence agencies are still investigating
the veracity of these claims.''
A source at one of Moorabbin airport's 10 major training schools said
Civil Flying School trained the largest number of Middle Eastern
students. Overseas students also attended General Flying Services,
which has trained pilots from Korea and Malaysia. Neither flying school
would comment to Leader.
Schutt Aviation managing director Stan van de Wiel said along with
Civil Flying School and General Flying Services, Schutt had one of the
largest intakes of overseas students at the airport. He estimated that
around 50 overseas students trained at the airfield each year.
Mr van de Wiel said flight schools had no real protection when it came
to selecting students.
``But we can check to see if they have got a lot of money and where
they are getting it from. We've had to knock a lot of students back
because they have no money.''
Another source said that overseas students needed to be cleared by the
Immigration Department.
Edition:
1 - MGV
Section:
News
Page:
401
Record
Number: MSV-20011212-1-401-4095924V1 Copyright, 2001, Nationwide
News Pty Limited
http://docs.newsbank.com/s/InfoWeb/aggdocs/AUNB/0FD08128AC8B95F3/343E0D3CC2874A6492398787E2C8F018
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