Passenger admits making bomb hoax threat on Etihad flight

A man today admitted making a hoax bomb threat that caused an airliner to be diverted and given a fighter jet escort. James Glen, 37, was remanded in custody after pleading guilty at Chelmsford magistrates court in Essex following the incident yesterday in which a Heathrow-bound Etihad Airways plane carrying 163 passengers and 15 crew was forced to land at Stanstedn airport. The scare happened just hours before 35 people died in a suicide bombing at Moscow's Domodedovo airport . The flight from Abu Dhabi was redirected and delayed for four hours after the pilot reported a disruptive passenger, forcing the scrambling of two RAF Typhoon jets. Vivienne Perry, prosecuting, told the court that Glen had been "intoxicated" when he told a flight attendant that another passenger had a gun and had "threatened to blow himself up". She said the incident had a "considerable financial cost", including charges for the RAF escort, additional fuel and the cost to other passengers who missed connecting flights from Heathrow. "The whole incident caused considerable problems for passengers and members of the air crew," said Perry. "When he was interviewed, he admitted he made up the whole story and said he does not know why he did." The court heard that Glen – born in Ayr, Scotland – had lived in Australia for 18 years and was returning to Britain to begin work as a panel beater and car sprayer working on rally cars in Chard, Somerset. Paul Cammiss, representing Glen, said he was anxious as he had not been in a plane since he moved to Australia at the age of 19. He had acted in a manner "alien to him" because of the small amount of alcohol he had consumed. This affected him more than usual owing to the pressurised air in the cabin, Cammiss said. No other passenger knew of Glen's allegations, apart from the one he had accused of carrying explosive material, added Cammiss. Glen is expected to be sentenced at Chelmsford crown court on 10 March.