It costs $10K to say BOMB on a plane
In a crazy Meet the Parents - Ben Stiller-kind-of-way, Riccardo Paulin, a 65 year old Australian pensioner was removed from a SilkAir flight when he asked a flight attendant "Where is the Bomb?" as he placed his luggage into an overhead compartment.
Paulin was then charged and fined 10,000 Singapore dollars (US$6,420) but could have been looking at a maximum 100,000 dollars and up to 5 years imprisonment.
All for saying the word "BOMB" on a plane.
I keep seeing the scene from Meet the Parents as Stiller has a heated discussion with a flight attendant when he tries to assure her that "It's not like I have a bomb in my bag", to which she quickly hastens "You said the word bomb." He continues like a spoilt child "Bomb! Bomb! Bomb! Bomb! Bomb! Bomb!" as we see him unceremoniously exited from the plane by two oversized security guards.
Has our society gone completely berzerk? I won't defend that Mr Paulin couldn't have been a little wiser in his remark but to take this as a 'Bomb Threat' is a little over the deep end - one would assume.
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It's probably a simple fact that ANY time the word "bomb" is heard on a plane there is a set protocol the staff have to follow eg. unload all baggage, match bags to passengers, reload bags, take off after a delay...
This all costs the airline money, which I think the idiot who said "bomb" is liable to pay.
It's exactly the same as getting up and yelling "fire!" in a packed Cinema.
Regards
http://enoughwealth.blogspot.com
Posted by: Ralph | November 18, 2006 9:14 AM
I agree with you Ralph although I think the analogy you gave is a vast stretch from what this person actually said. He wasn't claiming that there was a bomb on the plane and he didn't make it vastly public.
It was a joke between him and the attendant, and while I understand she had a protocol to follow, one must question the wisdom of setting a policy as strict as this.
Society will be the loser when we can't judge the difference between humour and a bomb hoax or threat!
Posted by: Stuart | November 18, 2006 3:29 PM