A New Zealand man was sent for psychiatric assessment in Singapore today after being charged over a hoax e-mail claiming a bomb was aboard a Singapore Airlines plane bound for South Africa.
The phony threat - made just a day after the devastating terror attacks in the United States - delayed Flight SQ 422 from Singapore to Johannesburg for six hours on Wednesday.
The man (35) was charged in court with transmitting a false or fabricated message. He is due to appear again on September 28th.
If convicted, he faces up to seven years in jail and/or a maximum fine of S$50,000 ($28,750).
Police said the suspect was arrested at a lounge in Changi Airport on Wednesday as he waited to board the Boeing 747-400 plane that was the target of the hoax.
"The person is an employee of IBM," a spokeswoman told Reuters. "At this point in time, he's working in Singapore but he's not actually from our office".
She said IBM Singapore had cooperated with police in tracking the origins of the e-mail message and identifying the suspect.
An SIA spokeswoman said she could not comment on whether the airline had received the e-mail directly or any details of the incident.
Singapore police, who are also responsible for security at Changi, have gone on heightened alert in the wake of the airline attacks on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon on Tuesday.