Passenger Barred from Boarding Flight for Making Bomb Jokes

TEMPO.CO, Tangerang - Authorities are serious about its' no bomb joke policy across airports in Indonesia. This time, Joni Suyanto, a passenger who was due to board a Cathay Pacific flight CX718 bound for Hongkong from Jakarta's Soekarno-Hatta Airport blurted out the joke.

"As a result of his joke, Suyanto had to miss his flight as he was intensively interrogated by Airport Police at the Airport Authorities Headquarters," said the spokesperson for Soekarno-Hatta Airport, Mochamad Syukur on Thursday, January 28, 2016.

Passengers of CX718 were supposed to board at Soekarno-Hatta International Airport at 07.30am local time. Prior to checking in, Nurul Lolita - a check-in staff - asked Suyanto about the contents of his luggage, to which he replied,"I'm not carrying a bomb."

His answer - albeit jokingly - raised red flags across the airport, since all staff were told to be on high-alert when they hear the word 'bomb' uttered by anyone in the vicinity of the airport. Nurul immediately responded by calling local airport security, who then escorted him off to the Airport Authorities Headquarters to be interrogated.

Suyanto’s Hong Kong-bound flight, left on schedule at 08.30am local time - leaving him behind in Jakarta.

Suyanto told authorities that he was joking and blurted out the banned word spontaneously. Authorities then told him to sign an order to not repeat his actions, before he was let go.

Syukur said that these incidents continually re-occurred despite the fact that banners, running texts, and announcements have been installed all across the airport. "This case brings the total case to four in the month of January 2016 alone," he said.

JONIANSYAH HARDJONO