Is that a bim in your shoe?
Posted on 08/09/2003 10:00:36 AM PDT by knighthawk
AN Air France co-pilot was arrested at New York's John F Kennedy International Airport after joking that he had a bomb in his shoe before boarding a flight to Paris, officials said today.
A spokesman for the Queens district attorney's office said the pilot would be arraigned in court later in the weekend for falsely reporting an incident in the first and second degree – charges that carry a cumulative sentence of up to 11 years in prison.
Port Authority spokeswoman Tiffany Townsend said the pilot was detained at a security checkpoint in the airport after making "comments that were deemed inappropriate".
Law enforcement sources said the pilot had initially refused to pass through a metal detector at the checkpoint, and also declined to remove his shoes when asked to do so.
"At some point during the exchange, he said, 'I have a bomb in my shoe', and then he tried to leave the checkpoint," one source said, adding that the pilot was arrested by Port Authority police.
Officials did not release the pilot's name.
Prior to his arraignment, the pilot was being held at a detention facility in the airport.
In Paris, the French airline said he had been arrested following "misinterpreted remarks".
The incident forced the cancellation of the flight, due to leave yesterday evening with 350 passengers on board. The passengers were put up in local hotels overnight, and the plane took off early today from Kennedy airport with a new co-pilot who had flown in from Paris.
Eleven years? Seems a bit harsh.
"At some point during the exchange, he said, 'I have a bomb in my shoe', and then he tried to leave the checkpoint," one source said, adding that the pilot was arrested by Port Authority police.
I have got to think that this may be an example of 'selective' hearing. I seriously doubt that any pilot would say specifically those words, in that context.
A more likely possibility would have been:
My shoe? You want me to take off my shoes? This is absurd! I am a pilot! what do you think? I have a bomb in my shoe?
Was he an ass? Probably. But should he be facing eleven years in prison for simply being a jerk? It will be interesting to follw this to see how it turns out after further facts are revealed.
He may be facing 11 years in prison but there is no way that is ever going to happen.
I suspect that the law is there to keep real terrorists from controlling things by trying to spread panic. They could do this sort of thing freely if there wasn't some sort of threatened sanction.
Non!...Is that your minkey?
BWAHAHAHAHA!
FMCDH
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