A Spirit Airlines passenger called in a bomb hoax on a flight he'd just missed to try to delay it taking off, affidavit says
A 23-year-old has been arrested on suspicion of calling in a bomb hoax after missing his Spirit Airlines flight, the Justice Department said Friday.
According to an affidavit signed by an FBI special agent, John Charles Robinson was supposed to board Flight 2145 from Detroit Metropolitan Airport to Los Angeles International last Thursday.
About 35 minutes before the flight was scheduled to depart, Spirit received a phone call warning about a bomb, it says.
The affidavit accuses Robinson of saying, "There's gonna be someone that's gonna try to blow up that flight, 2145."
It adds that he also said: "They said it's not going to be able to be detected. Please don't let that flight board."
Law enforcement then went to the gate, where the plane doors had to be reopened, and everyone deboarded before bomb-sniffing dogs and FBI bomb technicians swept the aircraft.
Passengers went through additional screening, and several of them were interviewed, while telecom company Charter Communications traced the phone call, the affidavit says.
After no bombs were found, the flight took off six hours late.
Charter Communications said that the call came from Robinson's phone, while law enforcement found that he was booked on Flight 2145, the affidavit says.
It adds that Robinson was told at the gate that he had missed the flight, and was rebooked onto a different flight scheduled that evening.
Law enforcement approached Robinson when he arrived at Detroit Metropolitan Airport for his new flight, and he initially denied making any phone calls to Spirit, per the affidavit.
However, it adds that law enforcement then searched the call log on his phone, and he said he had made the call warning of a bomb threat.
"Robinson stated that he made the call with the hope that it would delay the flight long enough for him to make it in time so he would not have to take a different flight," the affidavit says.
He was charged with one count of using a cellphone to convey false information about an attempt to damage or destroy an aircraft with an explosive, and one count of false information and hoaxes.
The two charges carry a maximum combined sentence of 15 years if Robinson is found guilty.
According to court documents seen by Business Insider, he was released on a $10,000 bond. Robinson's next court appearance is scheduled for June 27.
"No American wants to hear the words 'bomb' and 'airplane' in the same sentence," said Jerome F. Gorgon, Jr., US Attorney from the Eastern District of Michigan.
"Making this kind of threat undermines our collective sense of security and wastes valuable law enforcement resources."
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