US ex-fighter pilot’s Australia arrest for China work puzzles former comrade: ‘can’t imagine what secrets he would have’

Daniel Edmund Duggan was arrested in Australia on October 21 at Washington’s request, Australian authorities confirmed without giving further details

An ex-Marine pilot who knows him well described Duggan as ‘well regarded’ and said he could not guess ‘what would have caused him this much trouble’

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Duggan spent over a decade with the US Marine Corps, before moving to Australia to work as a director in an “adventure flight” company that operated “an initial military training aircraft of the Chinese Air Force”, according to its website. Photo: Facebook / Top Gun Australia

Published: 3:03pm, 31 Oct 2022

A former US fighter pilot detained in Australia under a shroud of secrecy will face court on Friday, with a fellow ex-Marine saying that the retired instructor trained flight crew in China before his arrest.

Daniel Edmund Duggan was arrested in rural New South Wales on October 21, Australia’s attorney general’s department has confirmed, the same week British intelligence officials issued a rare warning about China’s recruitment of retired military pilots.

The attorney general’s department said Duggan, 54, had been arrested at Washington’s request – although both US and Australian authorities have declined to comment further and details of the charges have been sealed.

Duggan now faces extradition to the United States and is expected to appear in Sydney Local Court on Friday, according to court listings.

An ex-Marine pilot who has known Duggan for almost 20 years said it was well known Chinese companies had been recruiting military fliers – and he struggled to comprehend why Duggan would now be targeted for arrest.

“I can’t imagine what secrets he would have, that he would pass along, that would have caused him this much trouble,” said the ex-Marine, who requested anonymity because he still worked for a commercial airline. “I think the China work was pretty well known by most ex-military pilots. I would have first heard about it well over 10 years ago … it’s just that it’s recently made the news.”