Man gets 6 months in prison for fake bomb threat on Dubai to Schiphol flight

The Noord-Holland court sentenced a 50-year-old man to 240 days in prison, 44 of which conditionally suspended, for making a fake bomb threat on a plane from Dubai to Schiphol on 13 July 2022. A 3-year probation period is attached to the sentence, and the man must also undergo mandatory psychiatric treatment, according to a court ruling published on Thursday.

The man was on an Emirates Airlines flight to Schiphol. He handed a note to a crew member just before landing and said, “I would read that.” The note read: “This is no joke. I’ve got a bomb here for landing.”

The crew member called the pilot to help deal with the situation, resulting in the co-pilot having to land the plane by himself while maintaining continuous contact with air traffic control.

The court convicted the man of making a false bomb threat on the plane. The court called it a grave offense that caused fear among the crew members and fellow passengers on the flight. The threat also risked the safety of the flight because the suspect diverted the pilot’s attention from his duties.

The suspect also made a fake bomb threat in 2020, but that case was dropped due to his state of health. During that hearing, the man said he had made the threat because he was seeking help. In this trial, he said the two situations were comparable.

Based on the advice of a therapist, the court decided the man was not fully accountable for his actions because he suffered from delusions. The probation service judged the risk of recurrence as average. The psychiatrist said recurrence is most likely to coincide with future delusions. The court, therefore, ordered the suspect to get institutionalized mental health treatment.