There are a lot of topics you can use to make jokes, and bomb threats are not one of them. This is especially true when you're on your way to board a plane, but apparently, some people think it would be hilarious.
Bomb Joke Leads to Jet Escort
A harmless joke really depends on a couple of factors, including the subject, the people affected by it, the platform you post it on, and the people who can see or hear the joke. The 18-year-old teen, Aditya Verma, managed to strike all those factors that led to an arrest.
Before boarding a flight from London to Spain, Verma sent a message to his friends on Snapchat saying that he was on his way to blow up a plane and that he was part of the terrorist organization, the Taliban.
Normally, this joke would be read and people would move on, but the teen happened to be connected to the airport Wi-Fi when he sent this message. What was meant to be a private conversation between friends became a concern of the British security services.
With him being connected to the public Wi-Fi network, the security managed to intercept the message and saw it as a threat. This led to two F-18 fighter jets being scrambled to escort the flight until the plane reached the destination, as reported by Gizmodo.
Upon exiting the plane, Verma was immediately arrested by the local police and was thrown into a prison cell for two days. He was released on bail, but the consequences of his joke did not stop there as he was questioned by British intelligence services, MI5, and MI6.
The agencies investigated whether the teen had ties with terrorist organizations, and eventually decided that Verma was not a threat to national security. Still, the teen would be facing the costs of the response to his bomb joke.
Other than paying for a fine after being charged for causing a public disorder, he also has to shoulder the cost of deploying the two fighter jets that accompanied his flight, which would cost around $120,000.
Verma's lawyer said in defense that the message was not supposed to have reached any agency, as he "didn't put his message on Facebook or advertise it." Since it was a private message, it was the "equivalent of making a joke inside a car with friends."
Lesson Learned
One big lesson to be learned here is that one should not make bomb jokes under any circumstances. Other than it being insensitive since it can cause distress to those who may not detect that it's a joke, you never know who can see the message as well.
This also serves as a wake-up call to those who are connected to public Wi-Fis, and how it's possible for others to access your private conversations. It doesn't help that Verma said the joke just before boarding a flight, but generally, any form of bomb jokes should just be avoided.
