An Aerolíneas Argentinas flight attendant was arrested after allegedly making a call saying that there was a bomb on one of the airline’s Airbus A330 aircraft.
The aircraft, registered as LV-FVH, was scheduled to perform flight AR1304, departing Buenos Aires Ministro Pistarini International Airport (EZE) for Miami International Airport (MIA) on May 21, 2023. However, the bomb threat forced 270 passengers and the crew to evacuate the aircraft, delaying the flight by up to seven hours.
According to reports by the Argentinian news agency Telam, a flight attendant was detained on May 28, 2023, as the suspect behind the fake bomb threat. Sources close to the matter told Telam that there is “sufficient evidence” against the Aerolíneas Argentinas flight attendant.
Meanwhile, in a statement to the Argentine daily Perfil, the carrier said that if the allegations are true, “the company will sanction the person investigated proportionally to the seriousness of the act”.
Perfil added that the airline incurred costs of up to $1 million as a result of the delay, which could potentially lead to a fine against the perpetrator.
Sources also told Telam that the woman delivered a call to the captain of the aircraft and the company, threatening that the aircraft would blow up into “a thousand pieces”.
The news agency continued that the court is investigating whether she had a previous relationship with one of the cabin crew members onboard the Airbus A330. The flight attendant also allegedly threatened the pilot of the flight, saying that she knew which school their daughters attended.
According to Flightradar24.com data flight AR1304 was scheduled to depart at 7:35 am local time (UTC -3). However, it departed the Argentinian capital at 4:52 pm local time (UTC -3), arriving at MIA at 12:37 am local time (UTC -5) after an eight-hour and 45-minute flight.