Bomb threat to buy time backfires

AN ATTEMPT by a British citizen to use bomb threats to delay a plane and so enable his friend to retrieve her passport has ended in an 18 month prison sentence and a hefty fine. According to Reuters, Ilyas Savas called a hotel near Philadelphia Airport in June and claimed a bomb might be on board an American Airlines flight to Boston. This he did to buy time for his friend, Hatice Ceylan, who had purchased a non-refundable ticket on the flight, but later realised she didn’t have her passport. They were both arrested when they tried to redeem her unused tickets. Apart from the 18 month prison sentence, Savas must also pay US$9075 in restitution to American Airlines, USD$100 to each passenger on the cancelled flight for their inconvenience, and write letters of apology to the affected passengers. Both Savas and Ceylan were born in Turkey. Ceylan, who lives in New Jersey, is a US citizen. She is due to be sentenced on February 2.