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Passenger removed from Garuda flight over bomb joke
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A Garuda Indonesia aircraft takes off from I Gusti Ngurah Rai International Airport in Bali on June 13. (Antara/Fikri Yusuf)
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Garuda Indonesia passenger was removed from a Timika-Denpasar flight on Monday after a flight attendant heard him joke to another passenger that his heavy bag contained a bomb.
The man, identified only by his initials WH, was removed before the aircraft took off at Timika Airport in Papua at around 2:30 p.m., local time.
The incident happened when a passenger named Parlindungan Tambunan asked WH what he was carrying in his bag because it looked heavy. Spontaneously, WH jokingly replied that he was carrying “a bomb”. Parlindungan was not shocked by the response because he knew WH was joking.
WH’s response was heard by a flight attendant who later took measures against the passenger over the intolerable joke. The attendant immediately called ground staff, who minutes later escorted WH off the plane and picked up his bag for investigation. It is reported that Parlindungan was also taken with WH.
“WH apologized but officers insisted on taking him and his bag into the airport police office for a bag check,” Papua Police spokesman Sr. Comr. AM Kamal said as quoted by Antara on Monday.
The police did not find any explosive material inside WH’s bag. Police then bought WH and Parlindungan to a police station outside the airport for further investigation, causing them to miss their flight.
“We hope flight passengers refrain from saying things that can disrupt flights,” AM Kamal said. (saf/ebf)
