The carrier BmiBaby has reportedly banned a schoolboy and his mother from flying after he was heard to make a joke about a bomb in his luggage.
According to the Daily Mail, 16-year-old Ryan Sherwin made the comment as he queued with his mother, aunt and 13-year-old cousin at Manchester airport.
He reportedly said to his aunt: “There better not be a bomb in this or I will get battered.”
But Ryan and his family were taken away for questioning and, while he was let off with a caution, BmiBaby then decided that the family would be banned from flying with the carrier ever again.
Ryan’s mother Sue, 34, is quoted as saying: “I accept people shouldn’t joke about bombs but I also think there needs to be a bit of common sense. They should be able to tell the difference between terrorists and a child. The only thing he had in his bags were revision books because he is worried about his mock GCSE exams after Christmas.”
An airline spokesman is quoted as saying: “We take any incident like this extremely seriously whether a passenger is 60 or 16. He might have known it was a joke but we and the security staff didn’t. He and his mother were told they will not be able to fly with us again.”
Report by Tim Gillett, News From Abroad
