UAE | Crime
Drunk man causes bomb scare on flight
A bomb scare raised by a drunk British man affected an Emirates flight from Manchester to Dubai on Wednesday, Gulf News has learned.
- By Alia Al Theeb, Staff Reporter
- Published: 09:40 July 9, 2008
- Image Credit: Gulf News Archive
- The British man was arrested upon landing at Dubai Airport.
Dubai: A drunken British passenger triggered a bomb scare on an Emirates flight from Manchester to Dubai yesterday, Dubai airport sources told Gulf News.
The British male was "extremely drunk" and was taken into custody for questioning, said police.
Airport sources said the passenger had an argument with a stewardess and told her that a bomb was hidden in the aircraft, which turned out to be hoax.
The stewardess immediately informed the pilot who alerted the airport control tower, said the sources.
All passengers were evacuated from the plane upon landing and the aircraft was searched thoroughly, they said.
"Dubai airport officials alerted security officials who took all necessary precautionary measures. There was a bomb hoax and we took all safety measures to ensure that there was no untoward incident," a police officer at Dubai airport told Gulf News.
A passenger who sat next to the inebriated man said he was was unruly.
"I was on the flight sitting next to this passenger. He was initially just a rowdy drunk, not someone who would seem threatening in a pub but on a plane it is completely different. The staff were great and the security response was hugely reassuring," he wrote in to Gulf News.
An Emirates spokesperson said: "We can confirm there was an incident involving a passenger aboard EK20 from Manchester [yesterday] after it had landed safely in Dubai. The captain immediately alerted the Department of Civil Aviation who took charge of the situation. The passenger is now in police custody.
"The safety of the aircraft was at no time compromised, however, Emirates takes such incidents very seriously and will not tolerate disruptive passengers on board our aircraft."
A passenger on the Indian airlines, who witnessed a similar scare on his flight to Mumbai, said reactions were very different.
"The same thing happened a few days ago to the Indian airlines flight to Mumbai. But there was no evacuation or anything of the sort. Is this happening too often? And why was serious action taken only for the flight [from] England?" he said.
- Inputs by Emmanuelle Landais, Staff Reporter
Disturbances on flights
May 29, 2007: An engineer went on trial for endangering the lives of tens of passengers after opening the emergency door of a moving aircraft while under the influence of alcohol. He was charged with opening an emergency door, which led to the release of the chute and caused damage to the aircraft.
September 14, 2006: A man under the influence of alcohol made a hoax bomb threat call that led to the diversion of Mumbai-Dubai flight of the Indian airlines with 145 passengers aboard. The plane made an emergency landing at Al Minhad airbase in Dubai.
August 26, 2005: Hundreds of Bangladesh-bound passengers of Biman flight were stranded for nearly 10 hours at Dubai International Airport. An unidentified caller warned the airport authorities at Chittagong that a bomb has been planted aboard the DC-10 aircraft.
September 10, 2002: A man who got drunk and disorderly on a flight to Dubai from London, was ordered by the pilot to be tied to his seat. The airhostess refused to serve the man more drinks as he was creating a disturbance. He then lost control and started verbally abusing her.
Checking drunkenness
The effects of alcohol are magnified while flying, as the high altitude forces certain physiological changes in the body, said a health official with Dubai Airport.
The official, told Gulf News alcohol could affect the body adversely in many ways.
"Alcohol increases viscosity in blood and can cause dehydration. It can be dangerous and toxic, and cause confusion," she said.
"When you're more than 10,000 feet above the sea level, there will be electrolyte changes in the body. If you don't take enough fluids ... people can become erratic and confused faster," the official added.
According to the US Federal Aviation Agency, alcohol affects the brain, eyes and the inner ear while flying. Its effect on the brain includes slower reaction time, bad reasoning, faulty judgement and lapses in memory.
Intoxicated flyers can also have double vision and difficulty in focusing as well as dizziness.
The official said there are ways for airlines and airports to prevent or at least limit drunkenness.
"Alcohol is the main concern for all airlines and airports all around the world. The issue is not if people want to drink but when they get drunk," she said.
"It is a hassle and their antics can delay flights," the official said.
One way was to have a cut-off policy for passengers or require them to pay for alcoholic beverages above a certain amount.
"I believe when you charge them money for another drink, they won't want to drink any more," she said.
Another would be for ground and cabin crew to vet passengers before they board the aircraft and before serving them drinks, to make sure they were not already intoxicated.
- Nina Muslim, Staff Reporter
Were you on the Manchester-Dubai flight? What was the experience like? Has something like this happened to you before? Tell us by leaving a comment below.
Your comments
How about the application of a black list system for such passengers, I would suggest that the passenger who makes such troubles should be black listed by the airline, so he won't be able to fly onboard the airline for at least one year, the more troubles a person makes, the more airlines ban him from flying, until they end up knowing how to behave onboard. This might be the price of scaring innocent people.
Ali
Dubai,UAE
Posted: July 10, 2008, 12:18
I was waiting very patiently to see someone who was on that flight today. That guy really messed up a lot of people's connections and trips, so bring on a decent penalty. Maybe sending him back to England after a few days in a Dubai jail.
Danielle
Brisbane,Australia
Posted: July 09, 2008, 18:08
This person should be locked up for a long time in Dubai, deported back from where he came and then given a lifetime ban from flying with any airline. Maybe then these idiots might think twice before causing disruption on aircraft in the future. When I here of these things I am embarrassed to be British.
Mark
Dubai,UAE
Posted: July 09, 2008, 18:02
Hisham, we all know that there are trouble makers in all walks of life... No point in stating the obvious.
Shuaib, there are many muslims in Britain. Your attempts at dividing a troubled society are un-welcome and petty and I am surprised GN printed your comments.
Anjali, good idea and maybe some airlines should look seriously at that one. Problem is only that the case will be under UAE jurisdiction and his passport is under UK jurisdiction. Worth making a note on the IATA ticketing system though.
Jeymer
Dubai,UAE
Posted: July 09, 2008, 17:51
This British guy must be severly punished and should be heavyly fined for all the extra expenses incurred at Dubai Airport. He should be blacklisted from flying with Emirates.
Alfred
Dubai,UAE
Posted: July 09, 2008, 17:48
Just because of one drunk passenger why should drinks be banned from a flight. Will the airlines reduce the fares instead?
Ivana
Dubai,UAE
Posted: July 09, 2008, 17:40
Refering to comments made by reader Anjali, as to my knowledge anyone making claims to having or planting a bomb on board an aircraft is is automatically blacklisted from all airlines. If he was drunk before he borded the aircraft then it was up to crew on the boarding gate to refuse him acces sto the aircraft.
Nicky
Sheffield,UK
Posted: July 09, 2008, 17:24
Gives you an idea of the quality of "Brits" coming into this country. They need to be profiled and a proper character check needs to be done on them.
RK
Dubai,UAE
Posted: July 09, 2008, 16:48
Unfortunatley this is the face of Britian today. People think they can do what they want, say what they want and when they want without a backlash. A spell for this guy locked up in Dubai might entice him to relay to others like him back in the UK that drunken behavior and case sensitive statements are not to tolerated...anywhere.....fool...
Trevor
Newcastle Upon Tyne,United Kingdom
Posted: July 09, 2008, 13:41
I was on the flight sitting next to this passenger. He was initially just a rowdy drunk not someone who would seem threatening in a pub but on a plane is completely different. The staff were great and the security response was hugely reassuring.
Lorna
Dubai,UAE
Posted: July 09, 2008, 13:29
This shows that not only one kind of people causes troubles, but others also...very interesting.
Hisham
Dubai,UAE
Posted: July 09, 2008, 13:28
Sir, even though I wasn't on that flight, but just to share an amusing moment, had the incident involved a non-british (for arguments sake, a muslim), it will be BIG news splashed on all the screens including the web with BOLD headlines mentioning Islamic Terrorist creates terror in flight.
Shuaib
Sharjah,UAE
Posted: July 09, 2008, 12:41
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