Flight 408 - Australia's first Hijacking

On a winter night in July 1960, passengers aboard Trans Australia Airlines Flight 408 expected a routine journey from Sydney to Brisbane. Instead, they found themselves at the heart of a terrifying first in Australian aviation history. Armed with a sawn-off rifle and a homemade bomb, Soviet-born Alex Hildebrandt demanded the plane be diverted to Singapore—setting off a tense standoff at 10,000 feet.
This episode reconstructs the dramatic events that unfolded in the skies: the hijacker’s threats, the crew’s heroic response, and the moment First Officer Tom Bennett risked everything to disable…