Airport: Joke no laughing matter
By Paige Akin
Times-Dispatch Staff Writer Jul 25, 2002
His joke bombed.
By allegedly referring to a bomb in his pants yesterday inside Richmond International Airport, a passenger earned himself a one-way ticket to police custody.
"They didn't search my crotch for bombs," the man, whose identity was not released, said to a friend after they passed through the checkpoint at Concourse A, according to airport officials.
Security personnel, on heightened alert since Sept. 11, overheard the alleged comment and followed the man, who was scheduled for a morning flight from Richmond to Miami, airport spokesman Troy Bell said.
The man began boarding US Airways Flight 1614 at about 8:30 a.m. but was removed moments later by airport police, Bell said. He had no weapons or bombs with him and was not charged by police.
"He sat down and next thing we know, an airport employee and a policeman came down and asked this guy to follow them off the plane," one passenger said. "They looked at his ticket and took his bag. He went quietly."
Three men who were with the man who allegedly made the bomb comment left the plane, too, because they did not want to fly to Miami without him, said Stephen Utley, another passenger.
"Once they found out they weren't letting their friend back on, they decided to get off, too," said Utley, who was on his way to Charlotte, N.C.
Both passengers who were interviewed said the men had been giving the flight crew "a hard time." The plane left Richmond about 10 minutes after the incident.
Joking about bombs on planes is not new since Sept. 11. Years ago, most U.S. airports posted signs forbidding references to bombs or weapons.
"We really don't have any sense of humor about this. It was a comment, it wasn't a threat. But it was just really bad timing for him," Bell said.
Bell said yesterday's incident was the first of its kind this year.
Even though the man yesterday did not issue a direct threat, under law he could be charged with making a bomb threat.
After being questioned by police, he and his friends from Flight 1614 caught another flight to Miami - this time by way of Philadelphia about three hours later.
"I think the guy will be a little more careful next time he goes through a checkpoint," Bell said. "The long and short of it was he got off pretty lucky."
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