A 47-year-old British man who was arrested yesterday for making a false bomb threat aboard a Qatar Airways flight has been sectioned under the UK’s Mental Health Act and is being evaluated by doctors.
According to health websites in the UK, being sectioned under this law means that the man can be admitted, detained and treated in a hospital against his will.
It is typically applied when someone’s health problems are serious enough to warrant protection of other people or if that person is unwilling to agree to admission himself.
Assessments can last up to 28 days, and treatment can last up to six months and be renewed. A patient may also be required to take medication against his consent.
What happened
On Tuesday, the man apparently passed a note to cabin crew saying there was “a device” onboard QR23, which was heading from Doha to Manchester. The note was given to the pilot, who declared an emergency and radioed for help.
The plane, which had over 260 passengers on board and more than a dozen staff, was then escorted by a RAF fighter jet to Manchester Airport. Police received the aircraft and arrested the passenger, who witnesses said had been sitting quietly in his seat and did not say anything.
A sweep of the aircraft quickly showed there was no threat:
A 47-year-old man was arrested on suspicion of making a bomb hoax after incident at Mcr Airport. Plane search complete and nothing found
— Greater Manchester Police (@gmpolice) August 5, 2014
Though some passengers said they were not informed of any emergency while onboard the plane, others said they learned about what happened by reading Twitter.
And other passengers grew agitated while onboard after seeing the fighter jet escort.
Qatar Airways yesterday confirmed a bomb threat had been received, but because of a police investigation, it could not comment any further.
Thoughts?
mental or drunk
Lots of people drink on planes. Some get drunk. Almost none make hoax bomb threats. To blame drunkenness is to mistake and simplify the issue.
drunkenness + stupidity
All information thus far appears to indicate mental illness.
How so? What information are you talking about specifically? All I saw is he’s undergoing an assessment to determine his mental issues. I saw no news that mentioned the guy had a history of mental illness or is under any medication or any medical analysis determining he has one. Could very possibly be a cry of mental illness to come up with a legal defence for his crime
Are you for real??? Is there any evidence that he was drunk and stupid on the plane?? Seriously before pointing the finger or insinuating that a certain substance is the cause get your facts straight. “Witnessess said he was sitting quietly and didn’t make a sound” does that honestly sound like a drunk stupid person to you?? Doubt it!!
Other witnesses on the plane have taken to twitter saying he was drunk. Why take one witnesses words over another? Anyway more evidence will come out later, can’t expect someone to have spent 47 years with no signs of mental issues and then one day just go bananas and make bomb threats
“47 years with no signs of mental issues” Do you know that to be a fact or are you simply assuming?
Simply saying it hasn’t been mentioned, he may very well have had many problems in the past, just find it odd none were mentioned in any media outlet so far
This is as expected, media outlets do not have access to the passengers medical status or history as it is protected under law (DPA in the UK and HIPAA in the USA for example)
Please see my earlier post in response to Saeed Ahmad Khan, it states that eye witness reports describe the passenger as being “sober and coherent” and “no different to others on the plane”, links to the source of the quotes are provided in the post.
Yesterday it was reported by multiple media outlets (including this article) that the passenger has been sectioned and detained under the mental health act following an evaluation by doctors, legally the passenger could not be sectioned unless he was found to be suffering from a mental illness.
I have not read anything in the media that states that the individual was under the influence of alcohol or that his actions were the result of “stupidity” as you stated in your post. If you have further information that indicates this please share along with the relevant citations.
Perhaps he visited the yummy yummy chocolate bar in the new airport and was super hopped up on sugar and caffeine?
Media reports quoting individuals on the flight who witnessed the man first hand indicate the passenger appeared “sober and coherent” (source: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2716649/RAF-fighter-jet-escorts-passenger-plane-Manchester-airport-amid-captain-s-fears-device-board.html) and “seemed no different to others on the plane, nothing unusual” (http://www.bbc.com/news/uk-england-28662561)
He probably worked for too long in Doha and couldn’t handle a trip back to the ‘real world’
Was he on a transit flight passing through Qatar? Or actually living here?
Sober & coherent vs. psycho & drunk !!! “According to witnesses”
Thank you qatar air for making passengers sober enough to make the right judgements.