Bomb joke leads to panic on Indonesian jet, 10 passengers injured
At least 10 passengers were injured after fleeing in panic from an Indonesia plane after overhearing another passenger joke about a bomb aboard.
After hearing the comments, passengers broke open emergency exits of the Lion Air plane and rushed out onto the wing in panic.
Several were then injured trying to get down from the wing on to the tarmac.
It took place at Pontianak Airport in West Kalimantan province on the island of Borneo.
West Kalimantan police spokesman Nanang Purnomo said eight people suffered broken bones and two others suffered minor injuries.
The emergency doors were opened without clearance from cabin crew.
"I asked passengers to immediately leave the plane calmly and orderly, but instead they pushed each other and scrambled out of the plane," a flight attendant told local media.
Lion Air said the flight was delayed for three hours while calm was restored and a security sweep of the plane found no explosives.
The passenger responsible for the bomb joke, Frantinus Nirigi, was arrested along with another man who opened the emergency exits without authorisation.
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Editor for TravelMole North America and Asia pacific regions. Ray is a highly experienced (15+ years) skilled journalist and editor predominantly in travel, hospitality and lifestyle working with a huge number of major market-leading brands. He has also cover in-depth news, interviews and features in general business, finance, tech and geopolitical issues for a select few major news outlets and publishers.
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