A Navy technician was arrested after allegedly making a false bomb threat while on a Hawaiian Airlines flight, according to the New York Post. This happened Tuesday morning when 35-year-old John Stea told a flight attendant that the passenger beside him had a bomb.
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False Bomb Threat Made By Navy Technician On Hawaiian Airlines Flight
The 2nd Class Electronics Technician said this just moments before the flight would take off. It was about to fly out from San Diego International Airport. This was before officers quickly took action around 8:45 AM.
Hawaiian Airlines Flight 15 didn’t even leave the tarmac before the authorities handcuffed a man. According to witnesses, they weren’t sure if they grabbed Stea or the man he accused of having the bomb.
The 293 people on board had to abort the plane, and staff bussed them to a safe area. During this time, law enforcement searched the plane high and low for any explosives. They also brought along K9s who could smell bombs.
After all that, they found nothing dangerous within that plane. It took five hours of thorough searching before passengers were able to reboard the flight to Honolulu.
One of the passengers, Chad Nelson, posted a video of the altercation on Instagram. “Hawaiian Flight HA 15, San Diego to Hawaii, delayed due to some sort of security threat,” he wrote. “2 passengers removed by FBI. Entire plane evacuated.”
Since the false accusation, the authorities arrested Stea and notified Navy officials. The outlet obtained records proving Stea was enlisted since 2009. Since 2023, Stea had been stationed in San Diego.
According to Harbor Police, you can face up to a year in prison for faking a bomb threat. The Navy, accordingly, has taken Stea’s bogus threat seriously.
“The safety of the public and our personnel is of utmost importance to the Navy,” said Lt. Mohammad N. Issa, deputy public affairs officer, Commander, US 3rd Fleet, in a statement. “We take all threats seriously and are cooperating fully with local and federal authorities.”
The big question here is, why did Stea make this accusation? Did he truly believe his seatmate held an explosive? Or did he knowingly fake the bomb threat? As the investigation continues, we may find out the reason behind this strange accusation.