After a 38-year-old man passed a note saying he had a homemade bomb on board, a flight bound for Seattle from Atlanta was rerouted to Spokane, where it made a safe landing, the Seattle Times reports. No bomb was found on board, and the man claimed he could not arrive in Seattle because members of a drug cartel were there waiting to kill him.
In a long note he handed to a flight attendant, Brandon Scott said he had a homemade bomb. “This is not a joke,” the note read. “Several pounds of homemade explosives are in my carry on bag. I have a detonator with me. Handle this matter carefully and exactly how I say, otherwise I will detonate the explosives and kill everyone on board.”
Scott surrendered to police upon landing in Spokane. He said he didn’t think contacting local police at the airport in Seattle or from the plane prior to landing would help because he didn’t know where the alleged assassins would be, so he believed faking an airline bombing was a completely plausible alternative.