FUKUOKA (TR) – Fukuoka Prefectural Police arrested two drunk men on Friday for falsely claiming there was a bomb inside a bag on a plane that was preparing to takeoff, causing nearly a one-hour delay.
Futoshi Ayukawa, 43, and his friend Katsuyoshi Terasaka, 37, were arrested on suspicion of forcible obstruction of business after one of them pointed at his luggage and told a flight attendant “there’s something dangerous in there” and his friend chimed in that it was “a bomb” aboard a Star Flyer plane preparing to takeoff from Kitakyushu Airport at around 7 a.m. on Friday, NHK reports.
Police rushed to the scene after the pilot directed the plane back to a terminal and uncovered the hoax, which caused a 50-minute delay for the Star Flyer Flight 72 bound for Haneda Airport.
Ayukawa has admitted to the charges but Terasaka is denying them, police said, confirming that the pair was intoxicated at the time.
