While we’ve all made a mad dash for a flight, one man took this to the extreme when he allegedly faked a bomb threat to ensure he got onboard.
Having already missed a flight earlier that day, Ajmeer Bhadraiah, 59, was then denied entry to the 10:15am IndiGo flight which was departing from Rajiv Gandhi International Airport in India.
Instead of drowning his sorrows at the airport bar, the 59-year-old - who is a superintending engineer of Military Engineering Service - argued with staff and called the police control room to tell them that there was a potential bomb threat onboard.
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According to the Times Of India, the troubled traveller furiously demanded the flight not take off without him and only admitted his wrongdoing when police called him in for questioning.
Airport inspector R. Srinivas confirmed this, telling the publication: “By the time he reached the airport, the boarding gates were closed. He was annoyed and threatened that the flight will not leave.
“He then called Dial-100 from his phone and claimed there was a bomb on the plane.”
After learning about the possible terrorist threat, the inspector alerted the Bomb Threat Committee and other airport security personnel.
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He also contacted Ajmeer who allegedly confessed to making the hoax call.
Unlike the movies though, the engineer wasn’t trying to make birth of his first child or meet his one true love before they emigrated forever.
No, he had a much more mundane reason - he didn’t want to get in trouble with his boss.
“He made the call out of frustration after missing two flights as he was upset that he could not report to duty,” Assistant Police Commissioner V. Bhaskar explained.
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He also added that the 59-year-old ‘didn't have any criminal intention’, despite the hoax being an offence.
While officials apologised to passengers for the ‘inconvenience’, Ajmeer was taken into custody and charged.
His offences included intimidation and violation of the Aircraft Act, both of which can carry heavy fines and result in prison sentences.
Shockingly, this isn’t the first hoax call to an Indian airline.
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According to The Economic Times, over 100 other calls were made between 2014 and 2017.
In more recent times, one man even faced life imprisonment after forcing a Jet Airways flight to land after he claimed there were 12 hijackers aboard.
Thankfully, this was a hoax and police later discover that the man had been attempting to get his girlfriend, who worked for the airline, to give up her job and live with him in Mumbai.
Topics: Travel, World News
Katherine Sidnell