MercoPress. South Atlantic News Agency

False bomb alarm disrupts Buenos Aires' Aeroparque

The unruly traveler was said to have been enraged when he was told that he had to check in his luggage because it did not fit the carry-on measurements

An Aerolineas Argentinas flight from Buenos Aires Aeroparque Jorge Newbery (AEP) to Tucuman (TUC) was delayed Thursday after a 63-year-old passenger boarded the aircraft claiming he had a bomb.

José Osvaldo Moyental (63) boarded flight Nº1484 around noon bound for the Teniente Benjamín Matienzo Airport shouting he had an explosive device, which triggered all emergency protocols, which eventually determined the allegations to be false.

The passenger was reported to be upset with the carrier and enacted his tantrum as payback. As a result of the threat, the GEDEX (Special Group for the Control of Explosives and Special Weapons) group of the Airport Security Police (PSA) was summoned.

The aircraft was moved to an isolated area to be thoroughly inspected, as well as the crew and passengers, with assistance from the SAME medical emergency team and Firefighters and the K-9 brigade, in addition to a mobile scanner (ScanVan).

After confirming there were no threats, the airport went back to normal and the flight was rescheduled.

Moyental was placed under arrest. His case ended up on the desk of Federal Judge María Eugenia Capuchetti, who also handles the assassination attempt against Vice President Cristina Fernández de Kirchner.

Regardless of the Judiciary proceedings, Aerolineas Argentinas announced that “the company will not tolerate this type of disruptive behavior,” and will add Moyental to its no-flight list, as well as act as plaintiffs against the unruly traveler, seeking damages for the 3-hour delay.

Moyental was said to have been enraged when he was told that he had to check in his luggage because it did not fit the carry-on measurements.