Relax - Boarding a plane? Watch what you say

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Boarding a plane? Watch what you say

By Teh Joo Lin, The Straits Times | Thu, Jan 28 2010

It is not only the word 'bomb', uttered at the airport or in the air, that can attract trouble.

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changi

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That B-word can get you arrested at the airport. It is not just 'bomb' - even 'blow' can trigger an official fuse.

On Jan 6, a British airport had to be closed because of bad weather.

One man allegedly wrote on his Twitter page: 'Robin Hood airport is closed. You've got a week...otherwise I'm blowing the airport sky high!'

British police were not amused. They arrested the man, who is in his 20s, and charged him with 'communicating a bomb hoax'.

This month, at least five people got into hot water for spreading bomb scares in various airports and aircraft.

The rash of hoaxes comes at a time of tightened aviation security - after a failed bid to blow up a plane in the United States on Christmas Day.

A 23-year-old Nigerian man had tried to detonate explosives concealed in his underwear with a syringe of chemicals on a Detroit-bound plane. A small fire started but fellow passengers and the flight crew overpowered him.

In Singapore, on average, fewer than 10 bomb hoax cases occur at the airport during security screening or on board airplanes annually, the police said in response to queries from The Sunday Times.

In a widely reported case at Changi Airport in 2006, just six words got an Australian man into trouble.

Before the plane departed for Surabaya in Indonesia, the 65-year-old had said to the stewardess: 'Where do you keep the bomb?'

He was removed from the plane and arrested. The retiree was later fined $10,000 under the United Nations (Anti-Terrorism Measures) Regulations, which carry a maximum fine of $100,000 or up to five years' jail, or both.

But it is not only the word 'bomb', uttered at the airport or in the air, that can attract trouble.

Police spokesman Ivan Choo said that, under the regulations, it is an offence for someone to give others the 'false belief' that a terrorist act will be carried out.

He said: 'The regulation is not limited in scope to any particular location or place, nor are certain words taboo.'

At Changi Airport, the Changi Airport Group's spokesman said, staff have been trained to follow guidelines when security-related incidents break out.

For example, if a suspicious bag is spotted, staff immediately notify the airport police and advise passengers to stay more than 3m away from the item.

As bomb hoaxes divert police resources, Inspector Choo said the public should take care 'not to pass callous remarks which may cause real alarm or fear in others, especially in relation to terrorist-related acts or incidents'.

Anyone who suspects potential terrorist activity should call the police on 1800-255-0000.

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