Singapore Airlines passenger arrested after claiming bomb threat; fighter jets scrambled

SINGAPORE — The police arrested a 37-year-old man on a Singapore Airlines flight after he assaulted cabin crew and claimed that he had a bomb in his hand-carry bag.

In response to queries from CNA, the police said on Wednesday (Sept 28) that they were alerted at 2.40am to an alleged bomb threat on board flight SQ33 from San Francisco to Singapore.

The man was restrained by the crew and the police later arrested him for making false threats of terrorist acts and for suspected consumption of controlled drugs.

Singapore Airlines said that the "unruly" passenger allegedly hit a cabin crew member.

The plane landed safely at Changi Airport at about 5.50am, under the escort of F-16C/D fighter jets from the Republic of Singapore Air Force, the police said.

The aircraft was then taxied to a remote bay for security checks and the passenger was handed over to airport police, Singapore Airlines said. After the security checks were completed, the aircraft was towed to Terminal 3.

Data from air traffic tracking website Flightradar24 showed the plane circling before its descent towards Singapore. No delay in arrival was indicated, with a flight time of 16 hours and 25 minutes recorded.

Personnel from the Airport Police Division and the army’s Chemical, Biological, Radiological and Explosives Defence Group were on site to investigate the passenger's claims, the Ministry of Defence (Mindef) said in a Facebook post on Wednesday.

The bomb threat was then verified to be false, Mindef added.

All passengers and crew disembarked normally at 9.20am, the airline said.

"Singapore Airlines apologises to all affected customers for the inconvenience caused by this incident. We are assisting our customers with the rebooking for any onward connections that they may have missed," the airline added.

"We are assisting the authorities with their investigations and regret that we are unable to provide further details."

Police investigations are ongoing. CNA