When a man in Detroit realized he was running late for his Spirit Airlines flight, he thought he could stall the plane's departure by calling in a bomb threat. And in fact, his plan worked, kind of.
"I was calling about flight 2145… because I have information about that flight," 23-year-old John Charles Robinson allegedly told a Spirit Airlines official over his cell phone on Thursday morning, according to Detroit Free Press. "There's gonna be someone who's gonna try to blow up the airport…there's gonna be someone that's gonna try to blow up that flight, 2145."
"They're going to be carrying a bomb through the TSA," the passenger continued. "They're still threatening to do it, they're still attempting to do it, they said it's not going to be able to be detected. Please don't let that flight board."
Welp, the flight did, indeed, end up getting delayed for most of the day while passengers evacuated and got rebooked. The crafty gentleman who called in the threat even had plenty of time to make his new 6:28 pm flight. There was still one problem, however — turns out, getting arrested makes it impossible to board a plane. He never did make it to Los Angeles.
From Detroit Free Press:
According to the FBI, the phone call was recorded and reported to law enforcement, who responded to the gate where Spirit Airlines flight 2145 was set to depart. At this point, the doors to the plane had been closed by the flight crew. The plane was ordered to taxi to a remote location where passengers were deplaned and bussed back to the Evans Terminal.
Bomb sniffing dogs and FBI agents then swept the plane. Passengers went through additional screening, including several who were interviewed by the FBI and Wayne County Airport Police.
The investigation found no bombs on the airplane, or in any luggage.
But what authorities would eventually discover was a hoax, with cellphone records leading the FBI to Robinson…
Robinson was taken into custody at the airport. He made an initial court appearance Friday in U.S. District Court and was released on bond. He is charged with making a hoax and using a cellphone to threaten/maliciously convey false information in an attempt or alleged attempt to damage or destroy anairplane using an explosive.
Previously: 4 passengers share how they got permanently banned from major airlines
