Cracking a bomb joke at an airport may be the worst idea as it may lead to unnecessary flight delays and legal troubles. Recently, a bomb joke made by a passenger in the wee hours alerted the security officials at the Cochin International Airport, leading to his arrest. Moreover, his ‘little’ prank had caused the flight to get delayed by over two hours. The fake threat was made by Thiruvananthapuram native Prashant, a businessman in Africa, who was supposed to fly on Thai Airlines.
Air travel is considered one of the safest modes of transport. So, aviation security plays a major role in ensuring the safety of the passengers, crew and staff members. More than merely being a duty of the airport staff, each passenger should consider aviation safety as his/her responsibility. However, the actions of some passengers could jeopardize the functioning of the airport security system. CIAL assistant general manager PS Jayan told Manorama Online that the incident had happened at a time when the airport was observing the Aviation Security Culture Week, proving that everyone needs to be extra careful when it comes to aviation security.
Casually commenting that there is no bomb in your luggage to the security officers who ask about the contents in it may land you in trouble. As per the rules and regulations, a safety officer who hears words like bomb, danger and explosives should immediately report it. Even if you think that most of these guidelines sound illogical, the system demands it. Uttering the names of a few local snacks is enough to invite trouble as the officers who hail from other states may not be able to understand it.
Non-specific bomb threats could lead to 5 years in jail
A meeting of the Bomb Threat Assessment Committee comprising of all the high-ranking officials including the airport manager is convened as soon as a bomb joke or fake bomb threat is reported. The committee would then declare the threat as non–specific or specific. After the necessary checking and interrogation, the passenger would be handed over to the police. Non-specific bomb threats could invite a jail term of up to five years. Besides, the passenger may be blacklisted too. He/she may face the consequences of getting blacklisted, in their future air travels. In the incident that happened at Kochi, the passenger, his family and two other passengers who were checked in under the same PNR weren’t allowed to board the aircraft. Their luggage too was recalled for further inspection. Moreover, the chaos led to the flight getting delayed for over two hours. The insensitive action of an individual had caused trouble to hundreds of passengers who were booked on the same flight. Incidents like these may even lead to passengers often missing the connection flights.
Lifelong ban
If commenting that there is a bomb in the luggage and words like explosive and danger come under the non–specific category, issuing threats that a bomb is planted on a specific seat in a specific aircraft comes under the specific category. This is considered a grave offence that may lead to a lifelong ban on air travel. Interestingly, such a case was reported around four years ago in Delhi. A family who had flown to Delhi from London and was supposed to fly again to Kochi didn’t enjoy the food that was served on board. Irked by this, the family shouted that a bomb had been planted in that flight. However, this alerted the security officials and the flight was thoroughly inspected. Besides the lifelong ban, specific cases may invite other severe punishments too.
Caution is key
Each passenger should consider aviation safety as their responsibility. So, you could be sensible and refrain from using certain words inside the airport or aircraft that may lead to untoward incidents and actions.
