A 26-year-old man was arrested at Cape Town airport on Tuesday evening for saying he had a bomb in a box, police said.
”He had to put a box he was carrying on the X-ray machine and it detected an unusual item,” said national police spokesperson Senior Superintendent Vish Naidoo.
”When they asked him what it was, he said it was a bomb. It was in fact a bathroom contraption.”
Naidoo warned members of the public not to make such statements, even if it was meant as a joke.
”We have previously warned people, even if it’s a joke, it’s a criminal offence. This must serve as a warning to other people not to do this.”
The man was allowed to board the flight and Airports Company South Africa officials alerted the pilot of Kulula flight MN 106 as he was reversing his Boeing 737 400 out of the parking bay shortly after 6pm.
Comair spokesperson Glenda Zvenyika said: ”He returned to base and the man was handed over to the SAPS.”
Nobody was injured in the incident. There were 103 passengers and six crew on board. The flight left for Johannesburg an hour later.
Naidoo said the man would appear in the Bellville Magistrate’s Court on Wednesday to face charges of contravening the Aviation Act.
The incident follows an attempted hijacking on a Johannesburg-bound Air Botswana flight on Monday evening.
A man, who allegedly demanded access to the cockpit and claimed he had a bomb on board, was arrested at Johannesburg’s OR Tambo International Airport when the plane landed. – Sapa