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Man faked bomb threat after missing flight

A man has been charged with raising false alarm after faking a bomb threat in order to prevent a Malta-bound Scandinavian Arlines flight from taking off without him.

Man faked bomb threat after missing flight

The already delayed plane was just about to depart when a 41-year-old man from Gävle in central Sweden reportedly came running towards the gate, shouting “I’m getting on that plane!”

When a Scandinavian Airlines staff member told the man that it was too late to board, he said, repeatedly, that there was a bomb on the plane.

The pilot was told to stop the plane and police were called.

While waiting for the police to arrive, the man threatened to call the Aftonbladet newspaper to tell them there was a bomb on board an SAS plane and that he was not being allowed to catch his flight.

The man’s breath apparently smelled of alcohol.

Asked by the police whether he realized the seriousness of issuing a bomb scare, the man replied that him not being allowed on the plane was just as serious.

When the police told him he would not be travelling, the 41-year-old pointed at the plane, which was returning to the gate, and said that he would be getting on it.

“It’s coming back so I can go,” he said.

But instead of holidaying in Malta the man got to travel to a police detention centre in Stockholm.

During questioning he said that he was a diabetic and was not quite sure what he was talking about.

The plane was evacuated and searched and the passengers were transferred on to a different plane before finally leaving for Malta over two hours late.

Nine passengers missed their connecting flights as a result and had to spend the night in a hotel.

One passenger was treated by medical personnel after experiencing breathing difficulties.

SAS has demanded that the 41-year-old pay the airline 100,000 kronor ($15,000) in damages.

The Local/nr

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SAS

‘We agree to disagree’: Still no progress in marathon SAS strike talks

By lunchtime on Friday, talks between the Scandinavian airline SAS and unions representing striking pilots were still stuck on "difficult issues".

'We agree to disagree': Still no progress in marathon SAS strike talks

“We agree that we disagree,” Roger Klokset, from the Norwegian pilots’ union, said at lunchtime outside the headquarters of the Confederation of Swedish Enterprise in Stockholm, where talks are taking place. “We are still working to find a solution, and so long as there is still some point in continuing negotiations, we will do that.” 

Mats Ruland, a mediator for the Norwegian government, said that there were “still several difficult issues which need to be solved”. 

At 1pm on Friday, the two sides took a short break from the talks for lunch, after starting at 9am. On Thursday, they negotiated for 15 hours, breaking off at 1am on Friday morning. 

READ ALSO: What’s the latest on the SAS plane strike?

Marianne Hernæs, SAS’s negotiator on Friday told journalists she was tired after sitting at the negotiating table long into the night. 

“We need to find a model where we can meet in the middle and which can ensure that we pull in the income that we are dependent on,” she said. 

Klokset said that there was “a good atmosphere” in the talks, and that the unions were sticking together to represent their members.

“I think we’ve been extremely flexible so far. It’s ‘out of this world’,’ said Henrik Thyregod, with the Danish pilots’ union. 

“This could have been solved back in December if SAS had not made unreasonable demands on the pilots,” Klokset added. 

The strike, which is now in its 12th day, has cost SAS up to 130m kronor a day, with 2,550 flights cancelled by Thursday, affecting 270,000 passengers. 

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