WAR: Hijack "joke" sparks international security alert on flight from Australia, page 1

posted on Dec, 21 2004 @ 09:45 PM

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An Italian man, hoping to play a joke on his wife, sent a text message indicating that his plane had been hijacked by Islamic extremists. His wife immediately contacted the Italian embassy in Canberra who then contacted the Australian Federal Police. The police were able to establish contact with the pilot of the plane and over a series of conversations became convinced that it was a joke. The Italian police also became involved and the passenger was questioned and released when the plane landed in Vienna.

story.news.yahoo.com[/ur l]
CANBERRA (AFP) - An Italian tourist aboard a Lauda Austrian Airlines flight from Sydney to Vienna sparked a major security alert when he text messaged his wife to tell her his plane had been hijacked by Islamic extremists.

A spokesman for Transport Minister John Anderson said the man sent the message to his wife as a joke after taking off on the flight from Sydney last Sunday.

The man, reported to be Antonio Casale, 35, claimed terrorists were in control of the aircraft and were taking the passengers to an unknown destination.

His distressed wife contacted Italian police, who immediately contacted the Italian embassy in Canberra, who in turn contacted Australian Federal Police, fearing a September 11 style attack.

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Im not sure I can find a word for such stupidity. He is lucky that they did not turn the plane around and head back to Australia. I mean for those of you who are married, how many have wives that would appreciate this type of joke? It was not okay before 911 and that alone should have brought this type of chicanery to an end.

[edit on 12/21/04 by FredT]

Koka

posted on Dec, 22 2004 @ 06:59 AM

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Agreed.....It seems that some people are born with not an ounce of common sense. If people keep making these so called jokes there is a chance complacency will set in and the authorities will delay action due to the "Boy that Cried Wolf Syndrome".

quango

posted on Dec, 22 2004 @ 07:03 AM

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Originally posted by Koka
Agreed.....It seems that some people are born with not an ounce of common sense. If people keep making these so called jokes there is a chance complacency will set in and the authorities will delay action due to the "Boy that Cried Wolf Syndrome".

Yeah, but nothing happening causes complacency too.

Just think of it as a drill - if nothing else, they should be a little faster/better at responding next time. (when it might really matter)