Bomb comment leads to charges

Man who allegedly joked about bomb on plane will be arraigned in January.BURBANK -- The Southwest airliner passenger who allegedly made a comment about a bomb in his carry-on luggage on Friday, causing the evacuation of a plane at Bob Hope Airport, will be arraigned on Jan. 30 in Burbank Superior Court, police said.

Joseph Arsinous, 24, was arrested on charges of filing a false bomb threat on Friday and now faces potential charges from both state and federal courts.

“He bonded out, so there are no time restraint pressures,” said Burbank Police Sgt. Jay Jette. “The final charges will be filed at the arraignment.”

Arsinous was arrested on state charges, Jette said, and it is yet to be seen whether federal authorities will become involved.

When the crew of the airplane became aware of the comments, the plane was stopped on the taxiway and all of the passengers were evacuated and transported back to the airport terminal. FBI, Transportation Security Administration, Burbank Airport Police and Los Angeles Police Department searched the plane and cleared all baggage before allowing passengers to re-board and continue their flight to Las Vegas.

Glendale resident Grant Haney was looking forward to a weekend in Las Vegas when he boarded Southwest flight 2074 and sat near Arsinous, whom he said appeared to be intoxicated.

“Basically there were these two guys,” Haney said. “They were joking around with each other when he said, ‘Oh, don’t worry about it, there’s a bomb on the plane. It was in such a joking way that no one really thought anything about it.”

Airport personnel have to take these comments seriously, said Nico Melendez, spokesperson for the Transportation Security Administration.

“The key message is, in this-post Sept. 11th environment that we’re living in, we’re all aware that comments or remarks about bombs, or anything that could be viewed as threatening to airport personnel or passengers is a serious matter,” Melendez said.

“I think he knew when he said it that it probably wasn’t the best thing to say,” Haney said. “I think he just made a mistake.”

Bomb scares are not unfamiliar to airports across Southern California, Melendez said.

The threat at Burbank came less than a week after a suspicious device discovered at a security check in Long Beach Airport caused departing flights to be held at the gate for nearly three hours. About two months ago, threats were phoned in to Long Beach, John Wayne, Ontario International and Los Angeles International Airports, slowing airport traffic across Los Angeles County.

“It happens from time to time,” said Victor Gill, spokesperson for Bob Hope Airport. A few years ago, Gill said, a man going through security with a bottle containing a suspicious liquid shut down half the airport for hours.

“This didn’t slow down traffic so much,” Gill said of Friday’s incident.