Eighteen Singaporeans and 10 cabin crew have returned safely back to Singapore from Hangzhou, China, on a Scoot relief flight on Jan 27. (Photo: Reuters/Edgar Su)
Another man who made a bomb threat onboard a cruise ship berthed at Marina Bay Cruise Centre will also be charged in court.
Eighteen Singaporeans and 10 cabin crew have returned safely back to Singapore from Hangzhou, China, on a Scoot relief flight on Jan 27. (Photo: Reuters/Edgar Su)
SINGAPORE: The Australian man who made a bomb threat that forced a Scoot flight bound for Perth to turn back to Singapore will be charged in court on Saturday (Oct 14), the police said.
On Oct 12, the police were alerted at about 4.55pm to an alleged bomb threat on board Scoot flight TR16.
During the flight, the man had allegedly informed cabin crew members repeatedly that he was in possession of a bomb. By this time, the plane had already departed Singapore and it had to turn back due to the threat.
The plane landed at Changi Airport at about 6.26pm, under the escort of Republic of Singapore Air Force (RSAF) fighter jets.
"As a result of the additional security measures implemented to ensure the safety of all persons on board flight TR16, there was a delay of more than five hours before the nine crew members and 362 passengers disembarked in Singapore at around 9.19pm," the police said.
The flight subsequently departed Singapore to Perth at 11.41pm.
The police arrested the suspect, a 30-year-old Australian man, with the bomb threat found as false. He will be charged on Saturday with making false threats of terrorist acts.
If convicted, he faces a fine of up to S$500,000 (US$364,830), a jail term of up to 10 years, or both.
Under the Tokyo Convention Act 1971, if a crime takes place on a Singapore-controlled aircraft flying outside of the country, the offender can be charged with the offence under Singapore laws.
In a separate case, the police arrested another man who had made an alleged bomb threat onboard a cruise ship berthed at Marina Bay Cruise Centre.
The police were alerted by a cruise operator at about 4.03pm on Oct 13. Police officers worked together with the Immigration & Checkpoints Authority and security officers from Marina Bay Cruise Centre to conduct extensive security checks on the cruise ship
"No threat items were found onboard the cruise ship," said the authorities.
After follow-up investigations, a 39-year-old man was arrested. He will be charged in court with communicating false information of a harmful thing on Saturday.
If found guilty, he may face a fine not exceeding S$50,000, a jail term of up to seven years, or both.
"As a result of the additional security checks on the cruise ship, operations were halted, causing a two-hour delay to the boarding process. An estimated 4,000 passengers were affected," said the police.
"The police treat all security threats seriously and will not hesitate to take action against anyone who causes public alarm with false threats.
"Beyond the fear and inconvenience caused to other members of the public, the making of false threats comes at a cost of public resources that have to be deployed to deal with the incident."