A criminal escorted on a Vietnam Airlines plane scheduled to fly from Hanoi to Ho Chi Minh City this afternoon  issued a false bomb threat, causing a 2-hour delay to the flight, the airport authority reported.  Flight VN253 with 246 passengers on board was slated to take off at the Noi Bai International Airport at 2:55 pm Monday.

When the plane was moving from its parking at the airport to the runway, a handcuffed man, D.B.D., 30, suddenly stood up from his seat #57J, carried out some disturbing acts, and said there was a bomb on the plane.  B. was among the two criminals escorted from Hanoi to Ho Chi Minh City by two police officers and the escort had been informed in advance to the crew. The two police officers then kept B at his seat with the support of flight attendants and then called the airport’s security force for help. The pilot steered the plane back to its parking so that the police officers escorted B. off the plane. All the 246 passengers were taken back to the terminal T1 and each of them had to undergo a security check again. Meanwhile, the security force examined the entire plane as well as B’s checked luggage to detect bombs but they found nothing. B’s false bomb threat cause the flight to be delayed for two hours to 4:55 pm, when the plane was allowed to take off. Under Article 30 of Government Decree 147 on administrative penalties applied to the field of civil aviation, B will be subject to a fine ranging from VND30 million (US$1,403) to VND40 million ($1,870).

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