Bomb Threat Aboard Flight Out Of SFO
The Republic of Singapore’s Air Force acknowledged the bomb threat on its Twitter page. Courtesy CBS Bay Area.
An incident aboard Singapore Airlines Flight 33 late last night briefly sparked panic. Shortly after takeoff from SFO, crew members encountered an intoxicated, unruly male passenger. The man alleged there was a bomb onboard. The crew reported the bomb threat to the Singaporean Air Force, who promptly scrambled two fighter jets. Aboard the plane, the man became violent, striking a member of the crew. The plane landed with no further trouble at Changi Airport, where the individual was then taken into custody.
Apparently this practice is not uncommon. As per Bloomberg:
“Fake bomb threats are fairly common in aviation while fighter jets are generally used when crew don’t respond to commands from ground handlers or an aircraft veers off its approved route. In July, an EasyJet Plc flight to Spain was escorted by a fighter jet after a British teenager made a bomb threat on social media, according to Reuters.”
After sixteen hours and twenty-five minutes in the air, Flight 33 touched down safely at 5:50am local time, the city-state’s Police Force said in a statement. The aircraft taxied to a distant bay for security checks and was later towed to the terminal, Singapore Airlines said in a separate statement. All passengers and crew disembarked without issue.
The aircraft involved, an Airbus SE A350 widebody jet, followed a normal flight path for most of its journey, but data from Flightradar24.com showed it circling over the sea off Singapore’s northeastern coast. The plane descended several times to a lower altitude before eventually gaining permission to land.
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