A 20-year-old man, who has been arrested for allegedly falsely claiming he found a letter in an airplane bathroom that indicated a bomb was on United Airlines flight, faces a potential penalty of 10 years in federal prison and $250,000 fine.
FBI agents arrested 20-year-old Cameron E. Korth Monday night on a charge of maliciously conveying false information. He is scheduled for an initial appearance Wednesday in U.S. District Court in Denver, according to a news release by Jeffrey Dorschner, spokesman for Acting U.S. Attorney Bob Troyer and FBI Special Agent in Charge Calvin Shivers.
During a flight from San Diego to Denver, Korth allegedly claimed to have found in the plane’s bathroom and alerted the flight’s crew to the possible threat.
The note said that there was a bomb on the plane and that the flight crew should not attempt to land the aircraft, the news release says.
The crew notified authorities at Denver International Airport, including the FBI.
When the plane landed, it was parked on an isolated taxiway. Passengers were evacuated onto waiting buses and the aircraft was swept by Denver Police Department explosive detection canine assets. No explosives were found.
FBI agents asked Korth to write a description of what happened. When he did, investigators noticed similarities between Korth’s description and the bomb threat letter.
The FBI determined that Korth wrote the note in his seat on paper he found jammed in the seat and took it into a bathroom. He placed the note in the toilet seat cover dispenser and then pointed it out to one of the flight attendants, the news release says.
