SINGAPORE, Oct 27 — A 37-year-old American man will receive a stern warning for alleging that there was a bomb onboard a Singapore Airlines flight from San Francisco to Singapore last month, a district court heard on Thursday (Oct 27).
The bomb hoax led to a four-hour delay and Republic of Singapore Air Force fighter jets having to be scrambled to escort the plane to Changi Airport.
La Andy Hien Duc currently faces two charges — one for harassment in relation to the bomb hoax, and another of voluntarily causing hurt by slapping a cabin crew member while onboard flight SQ33 on Sept 28.
Through his defence counsel, Hien Duc also said he intends to plead guilty to the assault charge next Friday (Nov 4). He has been remanded since his arrest on Sept 29.
A prosecutor told the court on Thursday that they had considered a report from the Institute of Mental Health and intended to administer a stern warning to Hien Duc for the harassment charge.
She did not elaborate on what the report stated. However, Hien Duc’s lawyer, Mr Johannes Hadi from Eugene Thuraisingam LLP, told TODAY that his client suffers from schizophrenia.
If convicted of voluntarily causing hurt, Hien Duc could be jailed up to three years or fined up to S$5,000, or both.
Those convicted of using threatening words likely to cause alarm can be fined up to S$5,000.
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 statement when Hien Duc was arrested, the police previously said that preliminary investigations by the Central Narcotics Bureau found that the man’s urine tested positive for controlled drugs.
He does not face any drug-related charges at the moment.
The police also said that its preliminary investigations showed that during the flight, Hien Duc allegedly shouted that there was a bomb on the plane and grabbed another passenger’s luggage from an overhead compartment.
He then allegedly assaulted a cabin crew member who had tried to intervene and restrain him.
Checks by the cabin crew did not reveal any suspicious items in the passenger’s luggage.
The plane landed safely at Changi Airport at about 5.50am, under the escort of two F-16 fighter jets.
Thereafter, officers from the Airport Police Division and Special Operations Command’s K-9 Unit, as well as the Singapore Armed Forces’ Chemical, Biological, Radiological and Explosives Defence Group, were mobilised to investigate the threat, which was found to be false.
The police said that as a result of the extra security measures taken to ensure the safety of all persons on board the flight, there was a delay of more than four hours before everyone could disembark.
The 17 crew members and 208 passengers got off the plane at around 9.30am. — TODAY
