Connellan air disaster

On 5 January 1977, a Beechcraft 58 Baron was deliberately flown into the Connellan Airways (Connair) complex at Alice Springs Airport, Northern Territory, Australia. The aircraft's pilot and four other people were killed, and four more were injured, two seriously. The event is described as one of only two aircraft suicide attacks recorded in Australia's history, the other occurring in 1982 at Bankstown Airport.

The pilot, Colin Richard Forman, was a 23-year-old British-born man who had migrated to Australia after completing his education in London. In 1974 he had a conviction recorded against him for attempting to forge an airline ticket. He qualified as a commercial pilot in November 1975 and began flying for Connair in January 1976, but was dismissed after seven weeks when his employers learned of his forgery conviction. He subsequently lost a follow-up pilot job in Wyndham, Western Australia, which he believed was due to Connair's owner, Roger Connellan, informing his new employer of the conviction. By late 1976 Forman was living in Mount Isa, Queensland, flying occasional charter work and telling an acquaintance that if he did not find steady work by Christmas, "most of the world" would come to know of it.

In the days before the attack, Forman destroyed his flat in Mount Isa, arranging the wreckage into what was later described as a shrine featuring a flying trophy and his pilot's logbook, which contained entries referencing a "Sentenced to death" date and a planned "Suicide Mission." He then drove approximately 2,000 kilometres to Wyndham, stole a Beechcraft Baron from Wyndham Airport on 5 January 1977, and flew toward Alice Springs. Due to a miscalculated time-zone difference, he arrived later than planned. Broadcasting a final radio message, Forman flew the aircraft into the Connair complex at full power, striking the building's center.

Forman was killed on impact, along with Roger Connellan — his former manager and son of Connair founder Edward Connellan — and two other people. A secretary who was severely burned in the crash died five days later in hospital. Four additional Connair employees were injured.

Investigators later found letters Forman had written to the Department of Transport describing his motivations, including his account of the forgery case, his dismissal, and a stated intention to "cause Connair the maximum amount of loss and hardship" and to "kill and maim as many employees of Connair Pty Ltd as possible." Connellan Airways was later sold to East-West Airlines in 1980.