A passenger was detained at a Far East airport on Tuesday after threatening to set off a bomb on an airplane and then telling police that he was just checking their vigilance.
The male passenger, 52, a resident of the Kamchatka region who was not identified, faces a fine of up to 200,000 rubles ($6,440) or up to three years in prison on charges of making an intentionally false report about a terrorist attack.
The man told airport security guards who were examining him with metal detectors as part of the procedure to check him on board a local flight that he had a bomb in his pocket that he intended to detonate aboard the plane, Interfax reported.
He was preparing to board a flight between the regional capital, Petropavlovsk-Kamchatsky, and Ozernovsky village, the report said, without identifying the airline or how many other passengers were on the flight.
After his statement, the other passengers were quickly boarded and airport personnel were evacuated from the screening area. The man was then inspected by a bomb expert and a sniffer dog, but no bomb was found on him.
The man subsequently told the authorities that he was just testing their vigilance.
The man was taken into custody.
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