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US bound flight grounded after "prank" September 11th bomb threat

by Scott Carmichael (RSS feed) on Sep 13th 2009 at 11:00AM

A 21 year old electricians apprentice on his way from Brisbane to Los Angeles thought it would be fun to announce to fellow passengers that he had a bomb in his possession.

When the plane was still on the ground in Brisbane, he made the threat using the seatback entertainment system chat room. One passenger then alerted the crew, and the captain decided to have the passenger removed from his plane.

It took just under two hours to have his luggage removed and the plane underwent a thorough inspection. As if this wasn't stupid enough, the guy made his threat on a plane that would land in the US on September 11th.

His attorney told the court that the actions were "ill-considered and childish in the extreme". That is putting it lightly if you ask me. Amazingly, he got away with a mere $1300 fine, payable to the airline, and two years probation. The total cost to V Australia was about $20,000. As part of his guilty plea, no conviction will be added to his record, which probably means he'll be able to fly to the US, though I doubt V Australia will be welcoming him any time soon.

I'd like to think that most people reading this understand the seriousness of making prank bomb threats, and I'm pretty sure that making them on a US plane or a US airport will cost you far more than just $1300.

Filed under: Oceania, Australia

Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)

jphripjah Sep 13th 2009 10:51PM

There's a seatback entertainment system chat room? Why?

Scott Carmichael Sep 13th 2009 10:52PM

It's just one of the many features included in the RED entertainment system on V Australia (and Virgin America). Tons of fun actually, allows you to chat with fellow passengers.

Rob Sep 18th 2009 6:38PM

This guy must have had his head in the sand for the last few years. There was plenty of coverage in the past about these stupid false bomb threats. They get treated almost to the same level as if they were real.

Maybe he is related to the Aussie guys who robbed a bank in the US wearing their ids and going to a bank where they were known.

Rob

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