Singapore Airlines bomb hoax led to 4-hour disembarkation delay; man charged with causing alarm, assaulting cabin crew

SINGAPORE — A 37-year-old man was charged on Thursday (Sept 29) as a suspect in a bomb threat onboard a Singapore Airlines flight from San Francisco to Singapore that led to a four-hour delay in disembarkation for the plane’s passengers and crew the day before.

In a statement on Thursday night, the police said that preliminary investigations by the Central Narcotics Bureau found that the man’s urine tested positive for controlled drugs.

He was charged with using threatening words likely to cause alarm and with voluntarily causing hurt. The second charge pertains to an alleged assault on a cabin crew member while on board flight SQ33.

The police statement did not name the man but court documents stated that the accused is La Andy Hien Duc, an American.

Preliminary investigations showed that during the flight, La Andy Hien Duc allegedly shouted that there was a bomb on the plane and grabbed another passenger’s luggage from an overhead compartment.

"A member of the cabin crew was allegedly assaulted by the man when he tried to intervene and restrain the man," the police added.

Checks by the cabin crew did not reveal any suspicious items in the passenger’s luggage.

The plane then landed safely at Changi Airport at about 5.50am, under the escort of two F-16 fighter jets from the Republic of Singapore Air Force.

Thereafter, officers from the Airport Police Division and Special Operations Command’s K-9 Unit, as well as the Singapore Armed Forces’ Chemical, Biological, Radiological and Explosives Defence Group, were mobilised to investigate the threat, which was found to be false.

The police said that as a result of the extra security measures taken to ensure the safety of all persons on board flight SQ33, there was a delay of more than four hours before everyone could disembark.

The 17 crew members and 208 passengers got off the plane at around 9.30am.

The police warned that they will not hesitate to take action against anyone who causes public alarm with false threats.

"Beyond the fear and inconvenience caused to other members of the public, the making of false threats comes at a cost, in the extensive public resources that have to be deployed to deal with the incident," they said.

Under the Tokyo Convention Act 1971, if a crime takes place on a Singapore-controlled aircraft flying outside of the country, the offender can be charged with the offence under Singapore laws.

If found guilty of using threatening words likely to cause alarm, La Andy Hien Duc could be fined up to S$5,000.

If he is found guilty of voluntarily causing hurt, he could be jailed up to three years or fined up to S$5,000, or both.