He had only just arrived in Australia from Wales when teenager Brian Robson realized he had made a mistake by moving to the other side of the world. Since the 19-year-old didn’t have the money to cover the cost of a trip back to Australia, he decided to think “inside” the box. He hatched a plan to smuggle himself onto a plane in a small box and travel back in the cargo hold. He had two friends he met at a hostel seal him in a crate that measured 36 × 30 × 38 inches and send him back to London. Supplies in the crate included a hammer, a suitcase, a pillow, a bottle of water, a flashlight, a book of Beatles songs, and an empty bottle for urine. Robson spent 92 hours in the crate before officials intercepted him at LAX in Los Angeles and deported him to London. Robson's plan had been to be shipped directly to London on a 36-hour Qantas flight from Sydney, but the connecting flight was full, and so the crate was left upside down for 22 hours on the tarmac until it was shipped freight by Pan Am to Los Angeles before being transferred on to London. Because the areas where the crate had been stored were not properly heated and the crate had at times been kept upside down, Robson suffered greatly on his 4-day journey, at times even slipping in and out of consciousness. It took him several days to recover in a hospital in Los Angeles before boarding a plane — first class — back to Wales. Robson settled down in his home town, retiring at the age of 60. In 2021, he wrote a book about his experience called The Crate Escape.
