[Australia]: Message to Sweden [SEC=OFFICIAL]

[Owen]

"And what about the status of the Heard and McDonald Islands? I think we need to discuss that and treat it as a seperate matter as that was in fact sovereign Australian territory before being stripped of us in the Antarctic Resolution. We have no plans to conduct high-intensity research there, it is only a small place and hard to inhabit due to its terrain. We would see the return of that territory as more a symbolic gesture by Sweden to reconcile its relations with Australia, one less thorn in the side of the relationship."

Connor

 

[Connor]

"I think you have received more than a symbolic gesture given no other nation has ever received authorisation to conduct operation in Antarctica despite previously despite numerous requests having been made. Heard Island and McDonald Islands are apart of the sub-Antarctic territory obtained by the Sweden as part of the resolution and again was with the intent to retain peace within the region - whilst it is certainly a discussion to be had, now is not the time. We will see how the interoperability of Sweden and Australia is with the scientific access to Antarctica prior to discussing these islands."

Owen

 

[Owen]

"Is that all?"

Connor

 

[Connor]

"That is all. This session is concluded. Thank you for your time."

Owen

The board would dissolve into a back room prompting the entry of the Diplomatic Protection officers, fully uniformed, to escort the delegation to the awaiting vehicle outside the fire exit once they were ready to do so. Once within the vehicle the doors would slam shut and the Chevrolet Express would make its way to Stockholm International Airport with the unmarked Volvo S80 following on convoy albeit at a slight distance to remove the suggestion of a motorcade to external factors. Once at the airport the van would pull up beside the aircraft and the delegation guided onto the aircraft.

Ground security would then take their seats in the van initially travelled in by the Australian delegation and a National Security Office agent would approach in an airport tug, dressed in the necessary high visibility clothing. The motorcade would pull away from the apron and away from the airport as Air Traffic Control would make contact:

"ENVOY-THREE-NINE-FIVE, Stockholm Ground, please hold your position for VIP clearance for taxi and departure."

 

[Owen]

The Attorney-General and her delegation would board back onto the aircraft.

Once inside the aircraft and the door was shut she would say to her advisors.

"Well that was a big fucking waste of my time, but that was kind of almost expected. Should've wagered on it, frankly. Get us home."

The pilots at the cockpit would radio the tower.

"Stockholm Ground, requesting clearance for taxi and departure south-east."

The Attorney-General would sit in a big comfy recliner chair.

"Gin and tonic please." She would say to the flight attendant.

She would go into the meeting room to inform the Prime Minister about the outcome of the session on a secured phone link.

"Yeah, not good. The whole thing was farcical, acking to a Kangaroo court. I think they knew what outcome they wanted the moment we got there. Justices simply sat there with a biased viewpoint, accused us of attacking Sweden and basically towed the line of the Swedish Government frankly... I'm appalled at their behaviour. The Swedish justice system is obviously in shambles if this is the way justices are going to act. Yep. Yeah. Alright, I will ring you when we're on the ground at Canberra. Cya."

​

Connor

 

[Connor]

Once contact was made with Air Traffic Control the NSO agent on the tarmac would set light to the small tab dangling from the refuelling port and soon begin to burn its way up to the fuselage prompting the agent to move into the tug nearby and drive his way to safety whilst the flames worked their way up the fibres. The aircraft has been fuelled with regular gasoline rather than the less flammable aviation fuel so upon the flame reaching the vapours within the pipework it would soon burst into flames, engulfing the thousands of litres that filled the fuel tanks onboard, soon building enough pressure to explode into a huge ball of flames. A huge explosion was easily audible for miles outside the airport which in-turn caused the entire building to shake almost as if it were an earthquake, a huge black cloud threw itself into the air and darkened the airport with a thick blanket as the flames erupted the sky in a bright orange glow.

Immediately upon the boom being hear the glass in the nearby terminal would shatter and ceiling tiles began to fall from the roof. Undoubtedly the agents within the airport would immediately activate the fire alarms prompting a full evacuation of the entire airport and bringing all inbound/outbound flights to a complete halt. Air Traffic Control, upon watching the explosion, would immediately direct all aircraft remain exactly where they were and for cabin crew to direct passengers alongside the taxiway to a safe location on grassland nearby. Meanwhile in the terminal the passengers and staff, immediately presuming it were a terror attack, would make their way outside the airport, some screaming in terror whilst other in utter shock displayed the typical fight or flight responses.

It would not take long for word to be received by the on-site fire department who quickly deploy four units to the apron where the remains of the exploded Boeing 737BBJ sit. With ground operations at a complete halt they would roam freely via the most efficient routes to the aircraft which still sit on the tarmac in flames.

Owen

 

[Owen]

Word would get back to the Prime Minister pretty quickly from the Ambassador to Sweden about what happened at Stockholm Airport.

“That’s a shame.” He would reply.

Connor

 

[Connor]

Whilst the media would, very quickly, begin to report on the explosion within Stockholm Arlanda International Airport, the specifics of what aircraft had exploded would not make it into the public domain that quickly and certainly would not be confirmed the the airport until authorised by the appropriate authorities. Whilst the Prime Minister of Australia may well have understood an explosion had taken place the news reports would default to the presumed terror attack literature, likely to draw concern but it would be absurd for anyone to presume what had occurred without witness testimony.

Within a matter of minutes the fire engines in site would surround the aircraft and douse the flames in fire retardant foam, using the techniques the fire fighters would expect to adopt for a standard aviation fire of this magnitude, something they regularly rehearse. The mixture of normal aviation gasoline and the regular gasoline pumped into the tanks would concoct a devastatingly hot fire which had visually disintegrated the majority of the fuselage and undoubtedly killed if not seriously injured those within the craft. A short distance away a small orange beacon was visible from an airport tug laid on it's side almost as if it had been thrown across the tarmac, within it sat a National Security Office agent burned to a crisp and undoubtedly dead as he lay crumped in the cabin covered in fragments of glass and metal with his face only lit by the flickering glow of the nearby flames.

The fire alarms within the airport would continue to beacon and the sheer temperature from the apron would undoubtedly cause the sprinklers on the nearest point of the terminal to activate, dousing the floors and furniture in water from the fire suppression system. Thousands of passengers soon began to line the roadways immediately outside the airport, many of which were families with children and in utter shock.

Soon emergency contacts were made with joint agencies including the local police and ambulance services to begin the deployment for the declaration of a major incident prompting the use of a joint hailing group. A rendezvous point was set up on the taxiway some substantial distance from the exploded aircraft but certainly close enough for ambulances or other emergency services vehicles to make the journey to treat the critically wounded. The local police would very quickly begin to close all public access roadways towards the airport and begin the flushing out of waiting vehicles to clear access for emergency services - officers would very quickly begin to move the huge crowd of evacuated persons to a nearby car park where they'd soon be able to triage those in medical need - although there were few, only some with minor injuries as a result of the panicked escape or as a result of underlying medical conditions exacerbated by the situation.

This was being treated as a terror attack and soon the Office of the Prime Minister of Sweden was notified via official channels.

 

[Owen]

The Ambassador of Australia to Sweden, upon hearing news of the explosion at Stockholm Airport would ring up the local police Chief responding to the incident at the airport in order to try and get an update on the status of the RAAF jet which was there at the time.

The phone would ring.

Connor

 

[Connor]

The somewhat anticipated but forgotten call would be answered by an officer of the Commander rank from within the 'green room', an emergency meeting established during the declaration of major incidents for better interoperability between emergency services and partner agencies. The call remained with the handset and was not broadcast to the wider room who were audibly busy discussing matters in various mumbles in the background of the Commanders voice:

"Hello, Commander Lars Atkinson"​

Meanwhile at the airport armed police begin to swarm the terminals, making use of CCTV feeds and maps of the area in order to complete a full area search to ensure that the buildings were completely evacuated and no further threats remained to the infrastructure. All flights would be diverted to nearby appropriate airports and those on the tarmac would be instructed to leave their aircrafts in situ as part of the larger investigation. The airport was now a crime scene. The media would be pushed back alongside the rest of the civilians present to a safe distance by police who rapidly began erecting police tape around the immediate vicinity.

Local ambulance services would begin the establishment of a mass casualty treatment centre complete with a large white tent with the internationally recognised red cross atop of it containing qualified doctors and nurses trained for major incident treatment. A small team of hazardous response doctors would also prepare themselves in the appropriate personal protective equipment to be deployed in conjunction with a supporting team of armed police to begin the recovery of bodies from the exploded aircraft.

Owen

 

[Owen]

The Ambassador would respond.

"This is Ambassador Brady, I am enquiring about the status of the RAAF jet which was at Stockholm-Arlanda Airport at the time of the explosion. Did it take off on time? What is the situation with that jet?"

Connor

 

[Connor]

The Commander would be a little shocked by the diplomatic call which he certainly wasn't used to take him but nonetheless would respond professionally "Ambassador, as I am sure you are aware there has been a major incident declared at Stockholm Arlanda International Airport and we're working alongside other emergency services and partner agencies to establish exactly what has happened. I can tell you that any aircraft that was on the tarmac and could abort their current maneuverer safely at the time of the incident was de-planed and evacuated in-line with normal security protocols."

Owen

 

[Owen]

"Do you know the status of the RAAF jet? It's a Boeing 737, very distinguishable livery should say "Royal Australian Air Force" on the side."

The Ambassador would hop into a private car whilst he was on the phone and would be driven to Stockholm-Arlanda Airport to get an update on the ground.

Connor

 

[Connor]

"No Ambassador, we're coordinating a response to a major incident. I don't have an update for the RAAF jet at the moment."

Since the airport had now been cleared the airport officials would be directed to arrange coach travel to neighbouring airports to begin the dissemination of passengers elsewhere, essentially to clear the thousands of people from the immediate vicinity as quickly as possible without damaging critical evidence currently cordoned by the officers on scene. The fire service would continue to damped the exploded aircraft to prevent reignition of the flames as well to cool the material on the site of the explosion to enable rescue teams to begin the body recovery - this would take some time and give ample opportunity to the teams to begin establishing a black tarpaulin lines barrier surrounding the aircraft to preserve any forensic opportunities.

Owen

 

[Owen]

It would be days without the RAAF jet returning, let alone not making it to its first stop in Dubai, that something wasn't right. Numerous attempts would be made by the Prime Minister to call the aircraft and the Attorney-General but there was no answer. It was becoming increasingly obviously that it was involved in the incident and the Prime Minister and Ambassador would begin getting frustrated that the Swedish investigators haven't concluded this yet. The Ambassador would ring the local police chief yet again to try and get an answer.

Connor

 

[Connor]

By this stage a preliminary investigation would have taken place which not only identified the involvement of the RAAF Boeing 737BBJ but also the identification of all souls onboard having been lost in the inferno or explosion beforehand. Undoubtedly this was now not only a terror incident but a substantial risk to Swedish national security in the eyes of the government, despite the National Security Office being fully aware of the assassination by members of their team - although at least one of them was in intensive care with the likelihood of recovery being next to none. The mass casualty centre would have almost fully dissolved with those evacuated since transferred to alternate airports and aircraft on the ground, required for foreign travel, granted permission to taxi and depart from the airport whilst a full closure was put into effect for the investigation, repair and security review which was now under the domain of the National Security Council within the Executive Office of the Prime Minister. Local police would remain in situ preventing anyone coming close to the airport.

The Commander would answer the phone, almost anticipating further calls once time passed and especially since he had discovered the identification of the aircraft involved, with his usual greeting for work-related calls:

"Hello, Commander Lars Atkinson"​

Owen

 

[Owen]

"Hello this is Ambassador Brady again, we are becoming increasingly concerned the RAAF jet hasn't landed in Dubai nor Canberra and our phone calls to them are going unanswered. I'm assuming you have some bad news for me."

Connor

 

[Connor]

"Ambassador as I said before the investigation is ongoing and there is much to be confirmed at this stage - I can confirm that we have identified an RAAF 737BBJ from airport data and evidence on the scene as having been involved and unfortunately we have had no confirmation of life from first responders. I am terribly sorry. A number of persons have been recovered from an aircraft which was involved in a large inferno however as it's on the VIP stand we're struggling to gain manifest information from the government - normal procedure would involve someone formally identifying the deceased.

As I am sure you're aware this is a dynamic situation which is rapidly changing. At the moment we're working on the theory that this may be linked to the situation in Cape Town, South Africa where another declared terror attack has taken place synonymous to this one..."

Owen

 

[Owen]

"I see... well I thank you for your time and please past my regards on to the first responders. Bye bye." The Ambassador would hang up. He would then make a phone call to the Prime Minister.

"The jet is ours. There were no survivors." He would briefly inform the Prime Minister before heading back to the Embassy.

"Very well then. Try to organise a retrieval of the bodies if you can and return them to Australia. Bye bye now." The Prime Minister would take a moment before breaking down into tears.

Connor

 

[Connor]

The fact the Australian government had had confirmation that a senior cabinet member was deceased, an Australian Air Force aircraft had been attacked on foreign soil, limitations of the investigation which they could very easily aid in and being provided information that this may be linked to a further terrorist incident in South Africa and they they had hung up the phone with no offer of condolence, identification of the body, demands for investigative assistance or support for the ongoing incident was of huge surprise to the Commander. Almost concerning.

One of the most senior members of any government had been murdered and the government could not care less.

This information was provided to the Department of Foreign Affairs, who naturally manage the Bureau for Oceanic Affairs, as well as the Department of Defence, who manage the National Security Office. Meanwhile the bodies identified which presumably consisted of at least the Attorney-General, captain and first officer and a small number of cabin crew were forensically recovered and removed from the airport by an unmarked private ambulance for preservation at the nearest morgue where a post-mortem examination will take place. The wreckage of the jet would remain in situ whilst scenes of crime officers would begin the photography and accountability of each part of the aircraft with assistance from engineers.

Owen