PUTRAJAYA: AirAsia today confirmed that its flight AK423 bound for Banda Acheh from klia2 was delayed this morning following a passenger on board who uttered the word ‘bomb’.
It said the flight was grounded for security checks.
“As a precautionary measure, a bomb threat search was conducted by the authorities and the situation was handled according to the standard operating procedures when dealing with such situations.
“The aircraft was declared safe by the authorities.
“All guests on board the aircraft have disembarked safely and the disruptive guest was arrested by the authorities for further investigation,” it said in a statement.
The flight with 123 passengers and six cabin crew was scheduled to depart at 7.45am.
Malaysia Airports Holdings Berhad (MAHB) confirmed that it received information on a bomb threat onboard flight AK423.
MAHB said it was working closely with the airline and all relevant authorities.
It said there has been no impact to flight operations for other aircraft.
Sepang police has also confirmed that it received a report on the bomb threat in the aircraft.
Sepang district police chief Assistant Commissioner Abdul Aziz Ali said the flight was about to depart when a passenger uttered the word ‘bomb’ which was heard by one of the cabin crew.
“The bomb disposal unit was sent to the scene and inspected all baggages. Checks on the flight showed that no objects, packages or boxes had such devices.
“One of the passengers only uttered “ada bomb kot” (maybe there’s a bomb).
“The passenger was later taken to the klia2 police station for further action. Our investigation showed that the passenger has no element of safety threats,” he said.
Aziz said using the word 'bomb' even as a joke could land a person in trouble with the law.