A British Airways flight attendant is facing jail time when he was just trying to further his career. He used a twisted approach to try to gain attention. The flight attendant created a fake bomb threat notice so that he could 'save the day' and get a promotion for his heroism. His idea wasn't very smart, as he landed himself in jail for the act.
Mathew Davis, 22, was one of the crew members on a BA Boeing 777 that was flying from London to Tokyo with 150 passengers. He thought it would be a fun idea to post a message on the door of one of the plane bathrooms saying that the flight contained a bomb that would go off while the plain was in mid-air, according to the Daily Mail.
"The bomb on board will explode at 16.00GMT unless our demands are met," the note read. As the plane was flying 35,000 feet over the Middle East, Davis showed it to his partner Sarah Jane Spencer, who was terrified by the potential threat.
Davis asked flight attendant Spencer to read the note on the door. She believed the message and was terrified; waiting for the bomb to detonate as she believed her time was up.
The bomb threat wasn't real. It was created by David himself as he planned to tell the captain about it in hopes of getting a promotion through his false heroism.
Davis brought the message to the captain after he claimed the find it, but the pilot was no fool. He knew that the note was part of a hoax as he had seen similar hoaxes in the past.
The pilot used good judgment and decided not to make an emergency landing in order to not frighten passengers. Scaring his fellow flight attendants was enough damage.
Police did search the plane when it landed at Heathrow, but no explosives were found.
When the plane landed on February 11, Davis had to write a report. He was found responsible when his handwriting on the report matched that on the bomb threat note.
Davis tried to explain why he would do something so senseless.
"He explained he was having some difficulty at work financially and he was hoping he might be able to get a promotion and he came up with the ill conceived idea that if he was seen to deal well with a crisis style situation it might help him with the promotion," Prosecutor James O'Connell said, as quoted by the Daily Mail.
Judge Anna Guggenheim QC called the incident "highly dangerous behavior, according to the Daily Mail.
"You wanted to create a crisis in order to be seen to equip yourself well, to be seen well by your employers, to rise in the estimation of your employers, putting it shortly to be a hero," Judge Guggenheim continued. "'Had you been believed the extent of the chaos and disruption and fear would have been very great indeed."
Davis pleaded guilty to the charge of communicating false information with intent. He is no longer a steward with British Airways.
David has tried to seek attention in the past.
'"What he ridiculously thought was that he would be able to notify the captain and be calm in the situation and deal with it well and therefore be looked on notably by his employers." Judge Guggenheim said.
"This was an act where he attempted to appear heroic and wanted approval from his workplace," she continued.
The judge advised that Davis should never be hired by any other airlines or any other companies where trust plays a big role.
This article is copyrighted by Travelers Today, the travel news leader
