Co-Pilot faces up to 7 years of jail for joking (?) about having a shoe bomb

[Grojlach]

Police: Co-pilot arrested after talk of shoe bomb

An Air France co-pilot was arrested Friday night at John F. Kennedy International Airport after he told security he had a bomb in his shoe, authorities said.
Phillippe Rivere, 50, a French citizen and co-pilot for the French national carrier, was scheduled to fly Flight 9 from New York to Paris at 11 p.m. EDT.
According to Port Authority spokesman Tony Ciavolella, Rivere was going through the security checkpoint when he said he had a shoe bomb. Port Authority Police were called and Rivere was taken into custody and searched, but no explosive devices were found, Ciavolella said.
Ciavolella said he did not know whether Rivere was joking.
Port Authority officials transferred Rivere to the Queens District Attorney's Office at 1 a.m. Saturday, where he was awaiting arraignment, Ciavolella said.
Rivere was charged with falsely reporting an incident in the first and second degrees, Ciavolella said. If convicted, he could face up to seven years in prison.
The flight on which Rivere was supposed to be the co-pilot was canceled Friday night, and police searched the plane, Ciavolella said. It took off for Paris at 10 a.m. Saturday.

Source: CNN

So, anyone knows what happened exactly during this case?

Metal Detector: Beeeeeeeeep
Airport Rentacop: "Sir, are you carrying any firearms or explosive devices?"
Copilot: "Yeah, I've got a bomb in my shoe, what do you think?" (Sighs, and removes keys from pocket)
Airport Rentacop: (pulls gun) "AAAAAHHHHH! Freeze, ******! Drop the keys NOW! Backup, I need backup!"

Kidding, of course.


Either way, judging so far without any specific details, the case sounds rather silly... And the possible sentence a bit zealot-ish. And it seems like sarcasm is not really appreciated...*
Anyone got any more info, or perhaps a quickly assembled conspiracy theory to share?

* Once again, without knowing any specific details on the case. For all we know, the co-pilot was deadly serious about the shoe bomb... Though it sounds a bit unlikely as it is now, taking the situation and the already available details into account.

[ 08-11-2003, 03:53 PM: Message edited by: Grojlach ]

[Rokenn]

Anyone stupid enough to joke about bombs/guns/etc... to airport security deserves to be thrown in jail. Geez even before 9/11 it was pretty univerasal knowledge that this was about as smart as sticking a fork into a live electrical outlet.

[Grojlach]

Originally posted by Rokenn: Anyone stupid enough to joke about bombs/guns/etc... to airport security deserves to be thrown in jail. Geez even before 9/11 it was pretty univerasal knowledge that this was about as smart as sticking a fork into a live electrical outlet.

True, but does it say more about the travellers or the airport security?

[Rokenn]

Originally posted by Grojlach: quote: Originally posted by Rokenn: Anyone stupid enough to joke about bombs/guns/etc... to airport security deserves to be thrown in jail. Geez even before 9/11 it was pretty univerasal knowledge that this was about as smart as sticking a fork into a live electrical outlet.

True, but does it say more about the travellers or the airport security? [/QUOTE]Well considering this guy is a pilot and had been one for quite sometime he should have known better. As for airport security they have a hell of a job. They screw up and a hundred or more people may die. I know I would not want to have their job!

[Timber Loftis]

[Grojlach]

Originally posted by Rokenn: Well considering this guy is a pilot and had been one for quite sometime he should have known better. As for airport security they have a hell of a job. They screw up and a hundred or more people may die. I know I would not want to have their job!

*sigh*
That's like saying that the death penalty is a proper punishment for having marihuana in your possession in, say, Malaysia, because, duh, everyone knows it's incredibly stupid to have it over there. I mean, you should have known better, right? Off with your head!
I'm not necessarily disputing the "crime", but that doesn't mean I can't criticise the gravity of punishment, though.

But does that justify threatening someone with 7 years in jail just for making a false *suggestion*, even if it turned out to be made only in sarcastic jest? I mean, sure, even taking their inability to recognize sarcasm into account, I can understand why the airport security personel would double-check the co-pilot, or even refuse him entry on the plane. And depending on the circumstances, the seriousness and the consequences of the bomb "announcement", I suppose a fine or even some jail time would be appropriate. But the article doesn't mention anything about serious additional gestures by the co-pilot to suggest it was a genuine threat nor anything about the consequences regarding the shoe bomb mention (apart from the somewhat logical delaying the flight - he was the co-pilot, after all - did they have to evacuate the entire airport or anything, for instance? Did he actually threaten to blow up the building, take hostages, or repeatedly made the shoe bomb statement, to indicate he wasn't kidding?). As none of it was mentioned in the article, I have to assume that the case really is as silly as it seems to be now, a co-pilot being arrested for making a sarcastic remark about having a bomb in his shoe, and possibly facing a long time in jail.

[ 08-11-2003, 05:10 PM: Message edited by: Grojlach ]

[Rokenn]

Originally posted by Grojlach: That's like saying that the death penalty is a proper punishment for having marihuana in your possession in, say, Malaysia, because, duh, everyone knows it's incredibly stupid to have it over there. I mean, you should have known better, right? Off with your head! I'm not necessarily disputing the "crime", but that doesn't mean I can't criticise the gravity of punishment, though.

Even though I oppose the death penalty I sometimes wish we could impose the death penalty for extreme stupidity [img]graemlins/laugh2.gif[/img] We need to remove more stupid people from the gene pool

Yes seven years is excesive. But in all likely hood he will be out in 2-3 anyways.

[Skunk]

It's completely out of proportion to the 'offence'. If they really wanted to 'teach him a lesson', they should have just subjected him to a full body search - and I doubt if he would have made the mistake again!

[Faceman]

Well, he may have been stupid but jail? Come on!
Did he hurt anyone? - AFAWK not
Did he intend to? - AFAWK not
Did he use or try to use any physical violence? - AFAWK not

He just made one sarcastic remark which security failed (or choosed not to) recognize. You could at most give him a fine for that but jail?

It is exactly that kind of inappropriate reaction which often makes the US the laughstock of European people. Like suspending a 7-year old from school for making "gun fingers" and shouting "POW POW" - "oh my god did you see that he's planning a school shooting" - of course he could just be playing Cops&Robbers but what are the odds for that?

Personally I think that the airport security understood the sarcasm very well but were offended by it and decided to "teach that goddamn clown a lesson".
Where's your freedom of speech in such matters?
I can run around the US shouting "Heil Hitler" uncharged but if I go "Now I have a machine-gun - ho ho ho" I immediately get arrested even if it's obvious I don't carry a piece.

[ 08-12-2003, 03:03 AM: Message edited by: Faceman ]

[Chewbacca]

It *sounds* like a case of:

Security: Please remove your shoes

Pilot: Why? Do you think I have a bomb in them or something?

Of course I am just joining in the speculation because it is a fun pasttime. While I do think jail time would be overly harsh, it would also be a certain deterent.
After 9-11 I cant blame U.S. airport security for being jumpier than pogo stick.