Joking about bombs on planes...

[jerseydevil]

There was this episode recently in NY where this frenchman while his plane was getting ready to take off joked about having a bomb on the plane and that they were going to blow up. He was immediately arrested. He ended up spending 15 days in jail. He got off with a $600 fine.

He went back to France - it was just on French news and he, as well as their news, blamed it all on the US. He said made statements like "He just left a young soulless country and is very glad to be back in old europe where their is a soul and culture."

I consider this guy to be a complete idiot. What person with an ounce of brains would say that he had a bomb on a plane - even if it was a joke? He had a diatribe of terrible things to say about the US and France is treating him like a hero. He will be on all their talk shows this evening and is scheduled to talk about the terrible US.

Most Americans don't even see this - because they don't get French News.

Whose fault do you think it is? Do you think it is the US's fault for arresting him or his fault for joking that there was a bomb on the plane and it was going to blow up?

For those that can understand french - here is the newscast...French 2 - Le Journal 20 Heures - Janvier 30

You can watch it up to the intro - you will see F. Moulet - which is the guy's name.

[Falagar]

The parents.

I don't know how he joked about it. Did he say "Hey, I have a bomb!" or was it more [ironic] "yeah right, and I go around carrying a bomb "? If there was even the slightest chance he might not have been joking then he should not have done it and is an idiot. If it was very ironic and there could be no doubt that he was joking then it was (IMO) an overreaction; but he's still an idiot.

[Sister Golden Hair]

Of course it's his fault. You don't joke about such things in light of 9/11 in the US. Frankly, even had 9/11 not happened, he would probably have been arrested for such stupidity, and not just in the US but elswhere, and the same would have and should happen to anyone that decides to be so lame brained, nomatter if they are French, American, or anything else. I would say he got off with quite a slap on the wrist.

[jerseydevil]

Originally posted by Falagar
I don't know how he joked about it. Did he say "Hey, I have a bomb!" or was it more [ironic] "yeah right, and I go around carrying a bomb "? If there was even the slightest chance he might not have been joking then he should not have done it and is an idiot. If it was very ironic and there could be no doubt that he was joking then it was (IMO) an overreaction; but he's still an idiot.

No - he told a stewardess he had a bomb on the plane. I'm trying to find an online article. it was not sai in any joking fashion and as far as I'm concerned - when you are in the city that had close to 3000 people die from two hijacked planes - it's not something you joke around about. Well not if you don't have you brains in your ass anyway. Obvisouly he does though.

[Falagar]

Originally posted by jerseydevil
No - he told a stewardess he had a bomb on the plane. I'm trying to find an online article. it was not sai in any joking fashion and as far as I'm concerned - when you are in the city that had close to 3000 people die from two hijacked planes - it's not something you joke around about. Well not if you don't have you brains in your ass anyway. Obvisouly he does though.

Of course it's not something one should joke around with, but a 600$ fine and 15 days in jail for something which is obviously a joke is an overreaction, IMO (that doesn't make the guy less an idiot though).

But if as you say it wasn't even told in a joking manner and there was a possibility people could actually have believed him then it's just plain stupid and deserves nothing less.

[jerseydevil]

Here is a weblog. Now I did get some actual local news on this. It wasn't covered national - but it was covered on our local news - since I live 40 miles from NY.

French Airline Jokester Released

American security and air transport personnel these days truly do not joke around. Thank goodness I'm not telling you that out of sad personal experience arising out of my recent travels to and within the United States - recall that I advanced the heretical idea in this space not so long ago of displaying a sassy Dilbert cartoon while going through security checks. No, the above conclusion is instead clear from the recent experience of an unfortunate Frenchman - "a rather flippant French jokester," some would conclude - named Franck Moulet who seemingly took a schtick about suspicious shenanigans on the American Airlines flight he was on rather too far a couple of weeks ago, and was jailed in New York City and put up on charges for his pains. English-language coverage of the incident (at least what I could find using that old reliable stand-by, Google News) is rather sparse. The French press, in contrast, has proved rather more willing to cover the story, as reporting attests to in Le Monde and in Le Figaro (Franck Moulet Freed in Exchange for Confession), and that last article even features a head-shot of the 27-year-old M. Moulet. Just look deeply into those eyes, I say, and then tell me whether this is some sort of comedian.

In exchange for its graphical supplement, the Le Figaro treatment goes into rather less detail about the incident beyond the basic facts. These include that Moulet is a student out of the Bouches-du-Rhône prefecture. (That's in the south of France; "still a student at age 27?!" you might exclaim, to which the reply would be "Oh yes, that's by no means uncommon. And German students tend to plunge into the 'real world' from academia at an even later stage.") He was on his way back to France from a winter vacation in the Dominican Republic, on an American Airlines flight by way of JFK airport in New York City, when his somewhat-excessive stay in one of the airplane's toilets prompted inquiries from a stewardess. Perhaps that simply annoyed him; in any case, in his response he started using the unforgivable "b-word." (I'll give you a hint: it has four letters in all, of which the last two are "m" and "b" again.)

Le Monde's treatment goes into considerably more detail (which is supplemented even more by this earlier article on the incident of January 19). First of all, it seems Moulet was travelling in the company of his girlfriend (his petite amie, or "little female friend") - not that this makes any appreciable difference, except now it seems that two vacations ended up being ruined instead of just one. His side of the story: The stewardess in question would not cease giving him a funny look after he had tarried somewhat long in the airplane's toilet, until he finally had to exclaim "You don't think that I planted a bomb!" The stewardess' side: As the plane landed, Moulet raised his fist and exlaimed "Oh, ****! The bomb I put in the toilet didn't work!"

In any event, it was all enough to ensure a special welcoming reception standing by for Moulet at JFK after the plane had taxied to the gate, in the form of federal agents waiting to place him in custody. He then got to spend some time in detention, "in the company," Le Monde complains, "of prisoners guilty of crimes de sang" ("crimes of blood"), i.e. truly violent offenders. In the end, the solution was found that Moulet would plead guilty to lesser charges and get off with time served and paying a fine of $550, in order just to be able to get on the next available flight and get out of the country and back to France. "In reality, he's not guilty of anything," asserted a Monsieur Morice, his lawyer. "But you know that American practice prefers that one plead guilty over there even when one is innocent." French law is different; you can't just plead guilty, although that is apparently about to change, at least for lesser crimes (those carrying a penalty of five years in prison or less), and Le Monde brings this fact up to contrast the two systems and, implicitly, to cast doubt on whether that proposed change to French procedure would in fact be a good thing.

Anyway, just wait for the sparks to fly once Moulet is out of the grip of the American authorities. M. Morice made it clear that, once in France, Moulet intends to denounce 1) The conditions under which he was imprisoned by the American authorities; 2) The general way he was treated by the American justice system, and, of course, 3) The conduct of American airlines. But remember, he'll be doing this in France, not America; somehow, I don't think too many Frenchmen will care. As for Americans, even if his story had been more widely-reported in the English-language press: Well, especially if the testimony of the stewardess is true as to what he said and the gestures he made, this American is willing to regard him as guilty, and lucky to get off and get back to his home country with a fine. America has had some rather unpleasant experiences with airliners in the New York City area in the not-too-recent past; as I say, American security and air transport personnel these days truly are not ready to joke around, or to have much patience for those that do.

There seemed to be his version and then the stewardess and rest of the flight's version. Supposedly what they said here - was that he told her he had a bomb and it was right before they were taking off.

[jerseydevil]

Originally posted by Falagar
Of course it's not something one should joke around with, but a 600$ fine and 15 days in jail for something which is obviously a joke is an overreaction, IMO (that doesn't make the guy less an idiot though).

You don't joke about bombs in NY or on a plane in the US.

He had to go to jail and be held while it went through the courts. What happened if he did have a bomb or was actually testing out something but had links to terrorist organizations. You just don't joke around like that.

He had a lawyer - he had his day in court and as far as I'm concerne he should consider himself lucky the fine wasn't larger.

[gimli7410]

what a moron, when i first went on to a plane my parents kept repeating to me not to talk or joke about having a bomb. i mean what an idiot what can you expect. you cant take a risk and get people from bomb security to go out there and waste their time, thats probably half the fine. i rmember i think it was hear but a kid had a note in his luggage saying i have a bomb and he almost went to jail but was just fined because he was 17

[Nurvingiel]

Originally posted by jerseydevil
There was this episode recently in NY where this frenchman while his plane was getting ready to take off joked about having a bomb on the plane and that they were going to blow up. He was immediately arrested. He ended up spending 15 days in jail. He got off with a $600 fine.

This sounds similar to yelling "Fire" in a crowded theatre. I don't know what the punishment is, but it is also illegal.

[BeardofPants]

You're not allowed to joke about that stuff? What happened to freedom of speech? I made an ironic comment to my german friend as we were boarding the plane to Wellington that of course I had remembered to put bombs in my shoes, accompanied by eye rolling, etc. The stewardess just laughed. Sheesh, remind me not to make smart comments anywhere near US airports.

[jerseydevil]

Originally posted by BeardofPants
You're not allowed to joke about that stuff? What happened to freedom of speech? I made an ironic comment to my german friend as we were boarding the plane to Wellington that of course I had remembered to put bombs in my shoes, accompanied by eye rolling, etc. The stewardess just laughed. Sheesh, remind me not to make smart comments anywhere near US airports.

Obviously you don't take the destruction of the Twin Towers and the downing of 4 planes in one day as a serious thing then - and neither does that stewardess. There is free speech - but there is nothing that protects causing a panic. As has been stated - you can't yell fire in crowded theater either. Freespeech is there rto protect your right to criticise and state your opinions.

I find it sick you would even joke about something like that.

[BeardofPants]

Read my post again. I didn't say I AGREED with people who joked about the two towers disaster, and I myself, would never do it. I just find the idea that having that freedom removed is just wrong - just like you support nazi marches, even if you don't agree with them.

There is a difference between an ironic comment and a joke - the ironic comment was made strictly to point out how moronic those people are.

But feel free to find me sick.

[jerseydevil]

Originally posted by BeardofPants
Read my post again. I didn't say I AGREED with people who joked about the two towers disaster, and I myself, would never do it. I just find the idea that having that freedom removed is just wrong - just like you support nazi marches, even if you don't agree with them.

What freedom is there to say that you have bombs in your shoes that will blow up hundreds of people? I don't see that in the constitution. I see freedom of decent, freedom to express your opinions - those are the things that are covered under freedom of speech. I can't stand it when people twist it into saying that you can just say that you have a bomb and expect that to be protected. Causing a panic is NOT protected under freedom of speech.

Nazi marches are only protected unless they start saying they are going to lynch or if they are going to harm people. That is not protected. If they say they are going to blow up the crowd - whether it is joking or not - is not protected.

They aren't making fun of the twin towers, they aren't showing support for the fanatics - they are claiming they have a bomb on them as they are on a plane. There is a big difference.

There is a difference between an ironic comment and a joke - the ironic comment was made strictly to point out how moronic those people are.

You don't joke about bombs on planes - period. My father was scheduled on Pan Am 103. He flew that over to England - he was supposed to be going onto Germany. Instead he didn't go to Germany and he left a week early. He was scheduled on that flight from Germany though. If he had gone to Germany my father would have been dead.

As I said - it is one thing to say you support Osman bin Ladin - you can say that here. You can not say that you have a bomb on a plane though, which can cause a panic.

But feel free to find me sick.

I will if you think you can joke about having bombs on planes and thinking that it is okay.





That took place only 15 miles from JFK airport where the guy thought it would be funny to make a bomb comment on a plane.

By the way - how did the stewardess know you did NOT have bombs in your shoes?

[BeardofPants]

Originally posted by jerseydevil
By the way - how did the stewardess know you did NOT have bombs in your shoes?

I was wearing a little black dress and strappy dress shoes. There was NOWHERE on my person that I could have been smuggling a bomb, except maybe up my butt.

[jerseydevil]

Originally posted by BeardofPants
I was wearing a little black dress and strappy dress shoes. There was NOWHERE on my person that I could have been smuggling a bomb, except maybe up my butt.

Well you could have had a bomb up your butt. People routinely smuggle cocaine and other drugs by putting shoving them up their butts. If theyre going to die anyway - I doubt they would really care.

You didn't actually describe what you were wearing - which makes it somewhat different. You still don't joke about it. My father - and this was way before 9/11 - was traveling on business trip with someone. They guy he was with joked about having a bomb - and the security guy overheard him. The guy had said "Do you think they'll find the bomb?" Well my father wasn't too happy because they dragged them in for questioning. My father was pissed when he came back from the business trip. NOt at the secutiry either - but at how stupid that guy could be to joke like that.

[BeardofPants]

Apology accepted.

[sun-star]

This girl did a similar thing. Hard to believe anyone could be so stupid. However funny you think it is, you don't make jokes that are going to upset people - that's just good manners. She obviously didn't do it with malicious intent, so I don't think the punishment needs to be very stringent, but it's still incredibly stupid

[jerseydevil]

Originally posted by sun-star
This girl did a similar thing. Hard to believe anyone could be so stupid. However funny you think it is, you don't make jokes that are going to upset people - that's just good manners. She obviously didn't do it with malicious intent, so I don't think the punishment needs to be very stringent, but it's still incredibly stupid

See - she recognized her mistake and her father didn't stick up for her.

...She told the BBC she had made a "foolish mistake".

Miss Marson triggered a security alert as she boarded a British Airways flight from Miami to Britain on Saturday.

She was told to return to court on 6 February for an an arraignment hearing, when there will be a formal reading of the charge that she made a false bomb report, an offence that carries a 15 year jail sentence...

...Asked what was she thinking when she made the bomb claim, the student replied: "I wasn't thinking, that was my problem."

'In a daze'

She said she hoped to be allowed to return to the UK and be allowed back into the US in the future.

Her father said she was childish and not very worldly.

Jim Marson, 75, originally from Bridgnorth in Shropshire, told BBC Radio 4's PM programme that when he spoke to her she seemed to be in a daze, asking: "Daddy, what did I do, why am I here?"...

...According to the arrest report, Miss Marson placed her bag on the belt at a security check, telling a Transportation Security Administration screener: "Hey be careful, I have three bombs in here" - before allegedly repeating the joke twice more when confronted by officials.

State law

Sergeant Joe Wyche from Miami Airport Police told BBC Midlands Today that officers had been left with no choice but to arrest Miss Marson.

"First of all, it's a violation of our state law.

"Before 9/11 we took it seriously - after 9/11 there's no room for kidding or joking, if that's the person's intention, so it's taken in a serious manner."

Sgt Wyche added: "There's no room for playing games at security checkpoints.

"I'm sure probably over in Britain if similar comments are made it's not laughed upon."

She had been in the US for three months with her American boyfriend and was returning to the UK to renew her visa when she was detained.

In France the person is going around saying how terrible the US is and how he was so terribly treated. Well he called us a soulless country - personally he doesn't have to come back. France is treating him as this hero guy. They had all these reporters there at the airport to meet him and everything.

I hadn't heard anything about the British girl - at least she was sorry and accepted that it was stupid. I think part of the French guy's problem was how uncooperative he was.

[Elfmaster XK]

JD, did you have to post those pictures? I hate seeing them. *shudder*

Anyway, I have to agree with JD on this. That frenchman is a complete moron. As is anyone who can possibly think talking about a bomb in jest is amusing. A bomb is a device designed to kill as many people as possible. In my opinion there is nothing at all funny about it. I think if he said it in any place they would at least ask some questions about it because what airline wants to risk a flight with hundreds of people on being lost?

You're not allowed to joke about that stuff? What happened to freedom of speech?

This hasn't anything to do with freedom of speech. I just don't think people should find anything comical in this subject.

I hadn't heard anything about the British girl - at least she was sorry and accepted that it was stupid. I think part of the French guy's problem was how uncooperative he was.

I don't want to start an argument about being prejudiced against them, but I believe the French are arrogant people. And if his view is that America is a soulless place he's better off staying in Europe where he can annoy less people.

[The Gaffer]

Well, obviously this guy is an idiot.

15 days in jail is perhaps a bit over the top; I would have thought a night in the cells and a fine would have been punishment enough.

Many years ago, my cousin made a joke about having guns in the boot of his car at an army checkpoint in Northern Ireland. He soon learned his lesson about inappropriate humour when he was dragged out of the car, pinned to the ground and searched at gunpoint.

Though I have a question for you, JerseyDevil: what do you think ordinary French people think about this guy?