Pilot held over air 'joke'

The Paris-bound flight was delayed as a result of the incident
An Air France pilot has been arrested at New York's John F Kennedy
Airport after reportedly joking at a security checkpoint that he had
a bomb in his shoes.

A Port Authority spokeswoman said the pilot was detained after
making what she described as an inappropriate remark.

The pilot, who was not identified, was later charged with falsely
reporting an incident.

Flight AF009, which had been due to leave New York late on Friday,
was delayed as a result and 350 passengers had to stay in local
hotels overnight.

The flight eventually left for Paris Charles de Gaulle airport after
a new co-pilot flew in from Paris, an Air France spokesman in Paris
told BBC News Online.

The airline said the pilot had been arrested
following "misinterpreted remarks".

A witness told the French news agency AFP that the man had jokingly
referred to a bomb in his shoes as he passed through security.

Airport police detained him and he is due to appear before a judge,
as early as Sunday, on charges which could result in a jail term of
up to 11 years, the agency said.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/3138219.stm

My thoughts on this:

Seems to me that our justice system doesn't need to be over-taxed with frivolous cases like this. Yes the pilot used poor judgement and should be disciplined by Air France but no I don't think jail time is appropriate. Time to use common sense. If a pilot really wanted to crash a plane he wouldn't require a bomb in his shoe to accomplish that. Let's prosecute the real criminals.

Well here we go again! Another Air France pilot gets himself in trouble for joking around with security. AV Web this week reports:

The Dangers Of Telling Bad Jokes

You'd think an airline pilot would know better ... especially after a fellow employee had been brought up on charges in Queens, N.Y., for similar behavior in August ... but an Air France crew member was detained Friday after he allegedly made remarks about the plane blowing up as his baggage was being screened at New York�s John F. Kennedy International Airport. The Associated Press reports (this time) an alarm went off as the pilot's luggage was processed through a screening machine. The pilot was called back to the station for a second screening. As security officials were inspecting his bags, the pilot allegedly joked about the plane blowing up, him blowing up and the story ending up on the front page of The New York Times. The TSA staffers were not amused. The security folks notified Port Authority police, who detained the pilot for questioning. The unnamed pilot was later released but his problems probably aren't over. The airline had to cancel the flight and put passengers on other planes bound for Paris. He also apparently didn't learn from the experience of a fellow Air France pilot. In August, another Air France pilot was arrested after allegedly telling a security screener he had a bomb in his shoe. No explosives were found on the pilot or the plane, but the New York-to-Paris flight he was scheduled for as a co-pilot was canceled. Philippe Rivere, 50, was charged with two counts of falsely reporting an incident. He could face a seven-year prison term if convicted on the first-degree count.