KLM sues man for bomb hoax

7 September 2004

AMSTERDAM — French-Dutch airline KLM and Schiphol Airport in Amsterdam are suing a 54-year-old American man who sparked a terrorist alarm by claiming he had a bomb in his luggage last week.

The Californian told fellow passengers on 2 September that he had smuggled a bomb in his hand luggage, forcing the plane to be cleared and all luggage re-checked.

The plane was just about to depart when the alarm was raised and the flight was eventually delayed by one hour.

Serious delays occur dozens of times each year due to similar incidents, but this is the first time that KLM and Schiphol have decided to claim damages, Radio Netherlands reported on Tuesday.

KLM is still calculating the cost of the damages incurred, but a KLM spokesman said the figure was quite large. “False bomb threats are unacceptable,” he said, adding that guilty passengers face severe repercussions.

The number of bomb hoaxes at Schiphol has risen in recent years from 37 in 2002, to 47 in 2002. There were 58 bomb hoaxes reported in 2003, news agency ANP reported.

Subject: Dutch news