A 22-year-old man was fined S$3,500 (BD1,019) after he posted a bomb threat on Instagram while seated on an Abu Dhabi-bound Etihad flight preparing to depart Changi Airport in Singapore.
Although the man, identified as Azim Shah Abubakar Shah, said that he was only joking, his post still caused the flight to be grounded and delayed for several hours.
Azim's threat was reported by Meta to the police shortly after being posted, as a law enforcement official detected it on Instagram.
The flight, which was waiting to take off, was called back to the terminal, where police traced the threat to Azim's phone. He was taken off the flight, and his luggage was searched, after which he was placed under arrest.
Azim later pleaded guilty to one count of making a threatening communication likely to cause alarm, and was fined S$3,500.
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