AIRPORT officials on Thursday urged the public to be wary of bomb pranks and warned that pranksters faced jail.
Their appeal came following a bomb scare from a Philippine Airlines aircraft from the United States a few minutes before it landed in Manila early Thursday morning.
Someone from PAL flight PR103 had called to say there was a bomb on the plane, a Boeing B777-300 from Los Angeles with 333 passengers and 18 crew on board.
The plane landed safely, but the responding policemen found no bomb after escorting its passengers to safety.
Airport officials said while the plane was approaching the airport, a flight attendant who was inspecting one of the plane’s lavatories discovered a handwritten note saying there was a bomb on board.
The attendant immediately informed Captain Lawana Nakar about the note. He then called PAL station control in Manila and requested priority to land.
It wasn’t clear if one of the passengers put the note on the lavatory.
Last month a 34-year-old air cargo employee was arrested for joking he was carrying a bomb in his car.
And in 2007 actor John Estrada was briefly held at the airport in General Santos City for joking he was carrying a bomb in his bag.