US man charged in airline bomb hoax



US man charged in airline bomb hoax New York: A US man who reportedly had served in Iraq and Afghanistan was charged on Wednesday with making a false bomb threat on a Delta Airlines flight from Paris to the United States.

Derek Stansberry, 27, faces up to 20 years in prison if found guilty of interfering with the flight bound to Atlanta, Georgia, on Tuesday and five years for pretending that he had a bomb, the Department of Justice said.

"Making false bomb threats on an aircraft and interfering with the flight crew are serious crimes that have serious consequences," said the US prosecutor for Maine, Paula Silsby.

The Delta flight made an unscheduled landing in Maine with officials initially saying only that a passenger had been "disruptive”.

US media reports said that Stansberry had served in the Air Force and was currently working for a private company contracted overseas by the government.

PTI