170 Tigerair Taiwan passengers delayed due to grenade hoax

Kaohsiung, July 21 (CNA) Around 170 passengers onboard a Tigerair Taiwan flight in Kaohsiung were delayed Sunday for roughly two hours after a passenger falsely claimed to have a grenade, police said.

The scheduled departure of flight IT288 from Kaohsiung to Okinawa, Japan, at 9:45 a.m. had to be postponed to 11:11 a.m. due to the hoax, according to the Aviation Police Bureau's Kaohsiung Precinct.

The precinct reported receiving a call from the airline at 9:40 a.m. about a passenger, surnamed Shen (沈), suspected of possessing a grenade.

When flight attendants offered Shen assistance with his carry-on luggage and asked if there was any water inside, he responded, "No, but there is a grenade."

As a result, the airline had to disembark all passengers and recheck both them and their luggage for security reasons, according to aviation police.

Meanwhile, Shen was transferred to the Taiwan Kaohsiung District Prosecutors Office on suspicion of violating the Civil Aviation Act.

Under the law, individuals who disseminate false information that jeopardizes flight safety may face imprisonment of up to three years, detention, or a fine of up to NT$1 million (US$30,600).