On the 7th of March 2025, BBC headline reads: “Teen armed with gun overpowered by passengers onboard plane”, a report by Aleks Philips.

From the article:

Police in Australia have charged a 17-year-old who got on a plane with a shotgun and ammunition.
He was filmed being wrestled to the ground by passengers and crew as the aircraft prepared to take off from Avalon Airport, near Melbourne, carrying 160 people bound for Sydney on Thursday afternoon.

Hi, my name is Terence and I’m your host for the Daily Monsoon, a podcast where I connect current events to matters of faith.

In the video, someone onboard asked the question, “How is this possible?”

That is just one of many questions we could ask.

“How is this possible?” There was once a time when boarding a plane was like boarding a train or a bus. Just show your ticket and take your seat. A history of hijackings has banished that age of innocence. There are just so many security barriers for passenger to get onto the plane. So how is it possible for a 17 year old to bring a shotgun onto a plane? It goes without saying, airport security has failed its duty. They are just lucky the worst did not happen.

Another question I would like answered is, “Who overpowered the guy?” You see someone with a shotgun. What goes into your mind when you tackle him? I greatly admire people who can act under extreme crisis. When we think of heroes, we should think of them, not actors.

What gave them the confidence to go for it? Did they practise martial arts? Do they have a job that prepares them for such situations? I mean, maybe the kid entered a plane full of counter terrorist experts. Or were they just ordinary men and women? If so, then it makes me wonder, would I be able to do such a thing? To risk my life? I pray to God, I will never be tested because I don’t think I am that brave. I would like to think myself as a guy who can do what needs to be done but I fear I would be the biggest coward of them all.

Another question, we would all ask is “Why?” Why did the kid decide to bring a shotgun into a plane? What was his intent? Did he want to hijack the plane to go somewhere? Some place important for him to go but low budget airlines was still too high budget for him.

Cause he did not go to a mall. Or a school. Sadly, that seems to be where shooters go to bring the most pain and death. I don’t think he was targeting a person, cause there would be easier ways of killing someone than on board a plane.

For example, the insurance CEO was shot when he walked out of his hotel. It was easy for the killer to get away. He was in the middle of the city. He could easily take the bus, taxi, train and just be anywhere in the country. He was just unlucky that the CCTVs got his face and he was spotted and arrested within a day or two.

But when you board a plane, it’s not that easy to escape. So what was he thinking? My guess is he wanted to hijack that plane to go somewhere. But did he think it through? Cause wherever he lands, there will be police waiting right? It’s not like he is an Iranian terrorist hijacking a plane to get back to Iran.

So who knows what is in the young man’s mind? Perhaps he is just mentally unsound and so his reasons while rational to him is just not comprehensible to the rest of us. If so, I hope he gets the help he needs. Even as I hope, he bears the full consequences of his actions. Everybody is just relieved that nobody was hurt. It could easily have ended very badly.

Well, I just thank God nobody was hurt. Is it just me but there seems to be a lot of news about planes. Flight crashes. Malfunctions. And now, as absurd as it sounds, a teenager with a shotgun.

Many airports have armed security patrolling the areas. Are we entering a time where we will have armed security on planes?

How are we supposed to defend ourselves? Threats just keep increasing everyday in areas that used to be safe.

Taking a flight. Attending a concert. Reading a phone message. Shaking someone’s hands.

Used to be safe to do.

What can we do to defend ourselves? We can only do the best we can, without making ourselves crazy. And the only way to not lose ourselves is to put our security in God’s hand. He is our hiding place. He is our refuge. We hide under his wings.

With my faith in God, I don’t need to ask myself whether I have done enough to secure myself and my family, or whether I am able to take down a hijacker with a shotgun, I just put everything in Jesus and trust him.

This is the Daily Monsoon, a podcast where I connect current events to matters of faith. Thanks for listening, bye!