GEORGE NEWS - Making jokes about bombs at the airport could land you in jail. This was the costly lesson learnt by a Kulula passenger after a 'joke' he made was not perceived as funny and he ended up spending Friday night 14 July behind bars.
According to Senzeni Ndebele, senior manager of corporate affairs at Airports Company South Africa (Acsa), a Kulula employee received an inappropriate comment regarding a bomb from a gentleman who was checking in at around 15:10 last Friday. "When the man was asked if he had anything to declare, he responded that he had nothing to declare except for the bomb in his bag," she said.
Airport security was alerted and the incident was reported to the George police. The police, including the dog unit, arrived on the scene and all bags were screened, scanned and declared safe.
The accused was arrested at 16:04. He was released with a warning on an after-hours bail application the next day and will appear in the George Magistrate's Court on 4 August.
"Safety is a priority for Acsa and other airlines, so all safety measures need to be taken into account. In this case all baggage was re-scanned by Acsa as well as the police before the flight could proceed. Incidents vary, so procedures would be different from incident to incident," said Ndebele.
According to Ndebele there were no costs for Acsa but there could be cost implications for the specific airline.
Corporate Communications Manager for Kulula.com, Susan van der Ryst, said in in a statement, "The cost of any delays caused by an airline, including delays caused by its customers, are substantial, and this is quite apart from the inconvenience to other customers.
In this instance, the flight departed on time. The penalty for the customer concerned would be determined by the court. Because airports are national key points, any comments about explosives or any weapons or dangerous goods, however jocular, must be taken very seriously and airlines are required by law to report them to the police immediately.
Failure to do so could constitute dereliction on the part of the airline, especially if it transpired that the customer concerned did indeed have explosives. The airline could also decide to ban the accused passenger from their flights and he or she could end up with a criminal record and a hefty fine. Announcements warning passengers against making inappropriate comments about safety concerns, like bombs, are made continuously in the airport building."
ARTICLE: KRISTY KOLBERG, GEORGE HERALD JOURNALIST
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