Bomb hoax delays Air France flight

An Air France flight at the Ninoy Aquino International Airport (NAIA) was disrupted by a bomb hoax last Tuesday night, hours after passengers were prevented from boarding the plane due to suspected fake passports.

The 1st Police Center for Aviation Security (PCAS), Aviation Security Group (ASG), Philippine National Police (PNP), said no explosives were found on Air France flight 161 bound for Italy after its 7:25 p.m. take-off was aborted.

Police Senior Inspector Ramil Rebollos said that at around 7:17 p.m., a janitress Connie Perez of Air France received a phone call from a male caller using the NAIA house phone. In a threatening voice, the caller said a bomb was placed inside the plane.

"Bumaba ka sa boarding gate. Habulin mo ang Air France dahil may bomba," the man was quoted as saying over the phone.

Perez immediately informed Air France station manager Bing Reyes, who in turn, relayed the threat to the police.

Police said the aircraft was already pushing back for its scheduled flight when the threat was relayed to the pilot. The plane was immediately towed to the remote parking area, where the Special Operations Unit (SOU) of the ASG and K-9 sniffing dogs were deployed to conduct a search of the bomb.

Cargo and luggage were also inspected by the police.

The plane was cleared for flight by SOU personnel and took off at 11:36 p.m.

There were 189 passengers and crew on board the plane.

Manila International Airport Authority (MIAA) General Manager Edgardo Manda said police believe the threatening call received by Air France came from one of the passengers who was not able to board the plane, or someone known to one of them.

Five Filipino passengers bound for Italy were "off-loaded" by the Air France ground staff after discovering that they had spurious travel documents.

They were turned over to the National Bureau of Investigation-NAIA and charged with violation of the Philippine Passport Act of 1996.