Thai Lion Air is preparing to sue a passenger for compensation of at least THB2 million after he made an ill-advised bomb joke to flirt with a flight attendant, causing a six-hour delay at Don Mueang Airport on Sunday.
Aswin Yangkeeratiworn, CEO of Thai Lion Air, said yesterday the airline is preparing to sue Pichit Boondaeng, the State Railway of Thailand employee who said he had a bomb in his bag, prompting the airline to evacuate the passengers, deploy bomb disposal officers and inspect all bags.
Flight SL8536, leaving Bangkok to Hat Yai, was reportedly delayed for six hours and Pichit has been charged with communicating false information, thereby endangering the safety of an aircraft.
The train employee faces a maximum five-year jail term and THB200,000 fine.
Pitchit told reporters he was on his way to his friend’s wedding in Hat Yai and it was his first time on a plane.
“It was my first time on a plane, and I never knew about the law. I said it without giving any thoughts. I only wanted to tease the flight attendant. I thought she was beautiful. I hope my case is a lesson to other people and an incident like this doesn’t happen again,” Pichit said yesterday.
Meanwhile, the flight attendant in question, who has declined to disclose her name, told her side of the story on the popular Facebook Thai cabin crew page “Crewabs Cabincrew.”
“The passenger traveled with his friends, and I was checking the overhead cabin before departure. As I was putting his small bag in the overhead cabin, he said ‘I think there’s a bomb in it’ with a straight face,” the statement said.
“I told him ‘You cannot say that. You could be escorted off the plane’ but he kept a serious face and did not deny his previous statement.”
The flight attendant asked her supervisor to double check he wasn’t joking, but Pichit was still serious and insisted he “had a bomb”.
“He did not seem flirty, and who could tell if he was joking or not. We asked him twice, and he would not confirm it was a joke, so we informed the captain to begin the evacuation,” she said.
Meanwhile, Wutthichart Kalayanamit, State railway of Thailand governor, said the organization is considering disciplinary punishment because Pichit broke the law and damaged the reputation of the organization, Morning News reported.
Photo: Morning News
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