bomb threats

Souvenir Sunday: cash at Miami Int’l Airport

Souvenir Sunday, Souvenirs,

On Sundays Stuck at The Airport takes a look at the souvenirs you can pick up when you’re stuck at the airport. But here’s an example of a “souvenir” one traveler gave to Miami International Airport:

MIA CHECK

 

 

The photo shows a giant version of one of the checks a passenger had to pay Miami International Airport and the Miami -Dade Police Department – for $83,581 and $5,653 respectively – as civil violation fines for making false bomb threats in an airport last October.

According to MIA airport, the threats, which the passenger later said were jokes, shut down parts of MIA for hours, delayed flights and disrupted the travel plans of thousands of passengers.

This is the first time the airport has pursued restitutions for a false threat, but airport officials say it won’t be the last.

And in light of last week’s rash of airline bomb threats – there’s a good chance other airports – and airlines – will be following suit.

Massachusetts woman arrested for false bomb threat on JetBlue

Airports, Security, ,

Talk about fighting dirty.

Today a Massachusetts woman was arrested after being charged in federal court for making threats and false reports she made to authorities about explosives being carried by a passenger on board a JetBlue flight that ended up getting diverted.

It turned out no explosives were on board. The person Nicole Anna Miller (23) claimed had explosives was her cousin and the two were having some sort of dispute.

Still, Miller was charged for allegedly making a series of phone calls to JetBlue saying, among other things, that a passenger on a flight from Logan International to O’Hare International was carrying explosives. The flight was diverted and forced to land at Buffalo.

Miller had an initial court appearance today, July 3, and will go back on July 6th for a detention hearing. If convicted, she faces up to five years in prison, followed by three years of supervised release and a $250,000 fine.