News

Man gets pinned to ground at NYC airport as suspected terrorist after vintage camera mistaken for a bomb

Man gets pinned to ground at NYC airport as suspected terrorist after vintage camera mistaken for a bomb

A plane underwent an emergency landing at New York City’s LaGuardia Airport after a woman mistook a man’s vintage camera for an explosive.

The incident happened on Saturday after a mother travelling with her husband and children noticed that the man in question (whose identity has not been revealed) was viewing pictures and videos of relic cameras, according to sources who spoke to New York Daily News.

It was then that she became frightened as she believed he was looking for ways to create a bomb.

After he took out an antique camera of his own, she mistook it for an explosive device and took swift action to tell airline personnel.

The pilot notified traffic control that they needed to clear the runway for the emergency landing due to the behaviour of a passenger.

Afterwards, the plane landed away from the airport building, and passengers were vacated using inflatable slides.

Sign up to our new free Indy100 weekly newsletter

When on the ground, the supposed bomber had to lie face down on the runway, and his bags were seized and subjected to search.

Once searched, it was revealed that the man had a skateboard and other vintage cameras in his possession.

Someone on the plane took to social media to discuss the moment and wrote, “So the end of our flight got interesting.”

The Port Authority police officers and federal agents detained the man for several hours before he received the green light to carry on about his day - although he was presumably shaken up.

“The JTTF [Joint Terrorism Task Force], the FBI and the Port Authority Police Department determined that there was no criminality on the part of the passenger and he was released,” said Tom Topousis, Port Authority spokesman in a statement.

The 78 passengers aboard, alongside four crew members, were seamlessly evacuated from the plane with no injuries.

The Conversation (0)