Again and again, bad pranksters think they have to make bomb threats against passenger planes. In the most recent case involving Aerolíneas Argentinas, the perpetrator turned out to be an employee of the airline. A flight attendant literally wanted to get one over on the employer.
On May 21, 2023, the Airbus A330 with the registration LV-FVH was scheduled to fly from Buenos Aires to Miami. However, a telephone bomb threat meant that the widebody, which was occupied by 270 passengers plus crew, had to be evacuated. The machine was then extensively examined by the executive. Fortunately, nothing was found, so the Airbus A330 was able to take off again after more than seven hours.
Investigations by the Argentine police were able to locate the originator of the threatening call. It was, of all things, a flight attendant who works for Aerolíneas Argentinas. On May 28, 2023, he was arrested. According to information from the Telam agency, the public prosecutor's office is said to have issued an arrest warrant due to overwhelming evidence. Nevertheless, for legal reasons it should be pointed out that the presumption of innocence applies until a possible criminal conviction.
The airline concerned does not want to comment in detail yet, but has announced that it is considering filing a claim for damages against the employee if the allegations turn out to be true or if a criminal conviction is made. There's about a million US dollars in the room. According to the news agency, the investigating authorities are also considering a completely different variant: it is possible that the employer was not the goal of "wiping one out", but it is still being determined whether there may have been a relationship between the flight attendant and one of the two pilots who just fell apart. So it could also have been a revenge action against the ex-partner.