Stowaways hopped aboard an RAAF aircraft evacuating Australians from strife-torn Phnom Penh and weren't detected until it landed in Malaysia.
This was in July 1997 in what's called Operation Vista, a mission mounted at short notice to evacuate Australians, Canadians and New Zealanders and others out of Cambodia.
It followed the outbreak of fierce fighting in the capital between forces loyal to Cambodia's First Prime Minister Prince Norodom Ranariddh and Second Prime Minister Hun Sen, who had shared power since 1993.
Defence documents about Operation Vista, released under Freedom of Information, show that other than the stowaways, this was a complete success, evacuating 463 "approved nationals" to safety in Malaysia.
This involved deployment of four RAAF C-130 transport aircraft from Australia to the base at Butterworth, Malaysia, from where they flew six missions to Phnom Penh airport in a single day.
Because of the uncertain situation, there was concern about unauthorised access to the aircraft by "ramp runners" while on the ground, of evacuees carrying weapons and of shooting by drunken soldiers.
In the confusion at the airport, nine non-approved passengers, apparently local Khmers, joined the 80 official evacuees boarding the first aircraft.
RAAF aircrew apparently realised there were too many but, in the absence of the official passenger manifest, could not sort out legitimate passengers until the aircraft reached Malaysia.
They were returned to Cambodia on the final flight of the day.
The RAAF said the "inadvertent onloading" of the nine highlighted the possibility of hijack or other disturbance.
To ensure there was no trouble on their return flight, they were discretely accompanied by a small group of special forces soldiers.
Something similar could have occurred on the second evacuation flight when 15 passengers alighting from one aircraft joined the line of those board the C-130. They were detected and removed.
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