Singaporean charged for making hoax bomb threat on board aircraft at Changi Airport

Singapore: A Singaporean man was on Thursday charged at the State Courts with making a hoax bomb threat while on board an aircraft that was preparing to leave Changi Airport.

Azim Shah Abubakar Shah, 22, allegedly said "no one here knows I'm going to blow the plane up" in a post on Instagram stories after he boarded the Etihad Airways aircraft at about 6.55 pm on February 14, Channel News Asia said.

He allegedly posted the threat on his Instagram account under the username “fruitloops_19”.

The story was viewable to 16 people, according to the charge sheet.

The prosecution offered to reduce his charge to one under the Protection From Harassment Act for causing harassment, alarm or distress, however, he did not indicate a plea.

He will appear in court on July 3, said the report.

If convicted, Azim could be jailed for up to seven years, fined up to SGD 50,000 ($39,000), or both, according to the report.