Here's why you shouldn't say the word 'bomb' while waiting to board a plane

Ever wondered what would happen if you said the word 'bomb' while queueing to board a plane? Well, wonder no more.

A passenger got tired of waiting for his boarding pass to be checked at the entrance of a plane on Tuesday and uttered: "Why need to check? I have no bomb."

The Star reported that Malaysia-based airline Malindo Air evacuated the 37 passengers off the plane before towing the aircraft to an isolation area for the bomb squad to check for explosives.

Passengers were left standing on the tarmac from 4pm to 8pm as police searched them one by one. The flight from Selangor to Penang was supposed to have taken off at 3.40pm.

Passengers were only allowed to board another flight at 9.30pm. 

'Sensitive word'

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Petaling Jaya OCPD ACP Azmi Abu Kassim said: "While staff were checking the passengers' boarding passes before going on the flight, one of them questioned out loud why they needed to be checked and said he didn't have a bomb."

"After all passengers were seated, the stewardesses alerted the captain and control centre. They made a call not to fly the plane and lodged a police report."

"This is a sensitive word, hence we had to deploy a K9 and bomb unit to evaluate the threat," he said.

Careless words

Investigations revealed that the supposed "bomb threat" was nothing more than just the careless words of an agitated passenger. Police gave the green light for the passengers to take off at 7.30pm.

"Don't say words like bomb on a plane," ACP Azmi warned.

The airline said passengers were quarantined as part of safety measures and were provided meals while investigations were carried out.

"We would like to reassure the public that the situation was dealt with professionally by the authorities and no untoward incidents occurred. Malindo Air takes such threats to the well-being and safety of our passengers very seriously," it said in a statement.

Source: The Star