An airline passenger who prompted the Spanish air force to scramble fighter jets after he said he was going to blow up the plane he was on appeared Monday in court, the BBC reported.
Aditya Verma was 18 when he and his friends traveled with easyJet from London Gatwick Airport to the Spanish island of Menorca in July 2022.
The BBC reported that before departing, he told a friend on Snapchat: “On my way to blow up the plane (I’m a member of the Taliban).”
Security services saw the message and flagged it to Spanish authorities, who sent two F-18 jets to follow the airliner until it landed, per the BBC.
According to The Telegraph, Verma told the court he first thought the jets were flanking the plane as part of a military exercise related to the Russia-Ukraine war.
Verma’s lawyer told the court it was a “bad joke” but emphasized it was one made in private with friends.
The original article contains 281 words, the summary contains 159 words. Saved 43%. I’m a bot and I’m open source!
This is the best summary I could come up with:
An airline passenger who prompted the Spanish air force to scramble fighter jets after he said he was going to blow up the plane he was on appeared Monday in court, the BBC reported.
Aditya Verma was 18 when he and his friends traveled with easyJet from London Gatwick Airport to the Spanish island of Menorca in July 2022.
The BBC reported that before departing, he told a friend on Snapchat: “On my way to blow up the plane (I’m a member of the Taliban).”
Security services saw the message and flagged it to Spanish authorities, who sent two F-18 jets to follow the airliner until it landed, per the BBC.
According to The Telegraph, Verma told the court he first thought the jets were flanking the plane as part of a military exercise related to the Russia-Ukraine war.
Verma’s lawyer told the court it was a “bad joke” but emphasized it was one made in private with friends.
The original article contains 281 words, the summary contains 159 words. Saved 43%. I’m a bot and I’m open source!