Colin Richard Forman

Mass murderer

4known / alleged victims

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Case Facts

Gender: male
Country: Australia
Location: Alice Springs Airport, Northern Territory, Australia
Date of birth: 1943
Age at first offence: 34
Characteristics: —
Victim profile: Roger Connellan (32), son of founder Eddie Connellan; engineers Markus Chittoni (31) and Ron Dymock (48); and secretary Liana Nappi (19)
Method of murder: Smashing a stolen plane into the Connair hangar
Date(s) of murder: January 5, 1977
Years active: 1977
Date of arrest: —
Status: Died in custody
Died in the crash the same day; the attack was a suicide attack at Alice Springs Airport, Northern Territory, Australia on 5 January 1977

Case Summary

Timeline

5 January 1977 — Colin Richard Forman carried out an aircraft suicide attack at Alice Springs Airport by flying a Beechcraft Baron into the Connair complex, killing four other people and injuring four more, two of them seriously.

Background

Colin Richard Forman was 23 years old at the time of the attack. He migrated from the United Kingdom to Australia alone in the early 1970s and had trouble adjusting. In 1974, he tried to forge a Qantas ticket back to England. The forged ticket was detected and Forman had a conviction recorded against him.

In November 1975, Forman obtained a commercial pilot’s license and started flying for Connair in January 1976. The ticket forgery soon came to light and Forman was dismissed after seven weeks. He then found another job at Ord Air Charter in Wyndham, but was soon fired from there as well.

Forman apparently believed that Roger Connellan, his boss at Connair, had informed Ord Air about his forgery conviction.

The offence

Forman drove to Wyndham, Western Australia, on the morning of 5 January 1977 and stole a Beechcraft 58 Baron twin-engine piston plane (registration number VH-ENA) from the airfield.

Before leaving, he wrote a suicide letter in his pilot’s logbook. The entry was titled "Alice Springs Suicide Mission". In the entry, his aim was “to kill and maim as many employees of Connair Pty Ltd as possible”.

Alice Springs was four hours flying time from Wyndham in a Beechcraft Baron, and Forman planned to strike at 10 am during the company’s morning break. He did not account for the time difference between Western Australia and the Northern Territory and arrived at 11 am.

He broadcast a final message by radio: “It is better to die with honor than live without it – Echo – November – Alpha.”

Forman set full power on both engines, aimed at the Connellan complex, and then plunged into the building. The plane hit the center of the Connair building.

Victims and injuries

The crash killed Roger Connellan (32) instantly, along with engineers Markus Chittoni (31) and Ron Dymock (48). Secretary Liana Nappi (19) was badly burned and died of her wounds five days later. The attack also injured four more people, two of them seriously.

Aftermath

Connellan Airways was sold to East-West Airlines in 1980. The attack remains a sore topic in Alice Springs and is intentionally not covered by the Central Australian Aviation Museum.

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