Bomb joke delays Cotabato-bound flight
PHILIPPINE Airlines (PAL) flight PR2959 bound for Cotabato was delayed for several hours after a male passenger made a bomb joke, airport authorities said on Thursday.
Initial reports said that flight PR2959 was supposed to depart at 7:30 a.m. at the Ninoy Aquino International Airport (NAIA) but immediately returned to the terminal because of a breakdown in the plane’s airconditioning system.
Authorities said that at 10:40 a.m., the airport’s command center received a call from the PAL Station at NAIA Terminal 2 informing them that an unidentified passenger cracked a bomb joke while on the plane.
Aviation police force gathered all the passengers’ luggage and unloaded them from the plane to undergo rigid inspection from any explosives.
As of posting time, the plane was still on the airport’s remote area.
Under the law, penalties for a bomb joke include a fine of not more than P40,000 or jail term of not more than five years, or both, depending on the decision of the courts if a case is filed. BENJIE L. VERGARA
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