Drunken skier charged after airport bomb claim

Published on 23/02/2004 00:00

A DRUNKEN man who was arrested after allegedly joking to Glasgow airport staff that he was carrying a bomb will appear in court today.

The 22-year-old skier, who has not been named, was boarding a British Airways flight to Geneva in Switzerland when he was asked what he was carrying in his bag.

Replying, he allegedly joked: "Nothing - except for the bomb."

Alarmed at the alleged comment, airport staff summoned the police, who arrested the man and took him into custody.

As a result of the incident, the flight was delayed by about 50 minutes while the man’s luggage was removed.

A Glasgow airport spokeswoman said: "We are happy with how the situation was dealt with."

A British Airways spokesman said: "We strongly advise passengers not to make such comments as they will have to answer to the authorities."

A spokeswoman for Strathclyde Police said: "A man has been charged with breach of the peace and will appear in court tomorrow."

The incident is the third in recent weeks involving British flight passengers allegedly making false claims that they were carrying explosives in their luggage.

Last month Samantha Marson, 21, a student from Shropshire, was arrested in Miami after joking she had a bomb in her rucksack as she waited to board a flight to London.

And a week later, Lesley Brennan, 48, was charged with "communicating false information" after allegedly telling check-in staff at Newcastle airport she had a bomb in her luggage.

Earlier this month, a Continental Airlines flight from Glasgow to Los Angeles was grounded after a warning that al-Qaeda were planning to use the plane for a suicide attack.

A security expert said that the skier’s joke was foolhardy: "People are very jumpy at Glasgow airport right now."