Boy with Tourette’s denied boarding after bomb remark

[TamanTun]

I was just thinking about the news article about the 13 year old boy who was denied boarding after shouted ‘bomb’ at the gate. His parents had warned the airline in advance, he had his diagnosis letter on him and was wearing a sunflower lanyard. Imagine a world where others would understand and be supportive in a case like this rather than what happened. The family had done everything they could to avoid something like this but yet it did happen. Why can we all not be more accepting? I suppose it comes with educating others and does depend on the situation.

Passengers will miss that announcement. They’ll have headphones in/be asleep/not be paying attention. They’ll then hear someone shouting bomb mid air, others panic and it snowballs.

Saying "don't worry folks, there isn't a bomb" just won't work with some passengers (and crew.for that matter) their response to anyone making that announcement might quite rightly be "how do you know for certain"?

One of the problems with this whole discussion is many are making the assumption that if an individual saying "bomb" has been diagnosed with Tourettes you can safely assume there isn't one...

Frankly that's dangerous.

In the real world outside of this forum the security people would never, ever, guarantee there's no bomb, they'd more likely offer that there's a less than 1 in 10^-12 chance or whatever and might choose to offer advice and frame protocols for ground staff/crew accordingly.

I'm guessing that's the sort of protocol the CEO of Tourettes Action thinks maybe should be changed...

Bollocks ( not a tic)

How do you know he didn't have a bomb?
If 200+ people panic and run the situation could be dangerous even in there isn't any threat.

Like the people who have their earphones in during the safety announcements? If they can’t be bothered to stay awake / alert & listen to the announcements at the start that’s their problem.

Since this other airline apparently had no problems carrying the boy, can’t BA learn from them?

I absolutely love the confidence some of you have in the general public to listen to announcements and act calmly and logically. I wish I shared it.

It’s not though is it.

I, for one, always have my headphones in from the moment I board until well after take off. I’m a very anxious flyer. I know the safety instructions. If I took them off and heard bomb, I’m panicking. It’s not hard to see how it easily escalates, especially when people have been drinking or whatever before a flight.

You cannot be serious? He’d have been arrested, detained and banned from flying. The airport would be evacuated shut to all flights for at least 24 hours. People cannot really be this obtuse in real life surely ?

Since this other airline apparently had no problems carrying the boy, can’t BA learn from them?

TBF AFAIK we have no objective accounts of the boy or family's behaviour, day one with BA verses day two with the other carrier.

Maybe the family learnt a lesson and behaved differently second time around - TBH I don't know.

Then you are breaching UK CAA rules and procedures and you should be removed from the flight as it’s a requirement to remove your headphones during the safety brief.

We know he didn't have a bomb now. At the time it wasn't certain.

Yeah, hindsight is a wonderful thing, but it only works after the event 😆

Did the boy also say ‘bomb’ when he got the flight the next day? If he didn’t then you can’t compare the two scenarios

Okay? I do what I need to do. It is entirely wrong to try and argue people should be allowed to shout bomb during a flight.

That’s simply not true. There’s no UK CAA rule saying wearing headphones during the safety brief means you should be removed from a flight. Crew can ask you to take them out, but that’s very different from “breaching CAA rules.”

They absolutely did know he didn’t have a bomb. Even the interview recorded by the dad of the ba duty manager confirms it’s a threat not an actual bomb

That’s a weird argument anyway. If people ignore the safety briefing and then panic or don’t know what to do in an emergency or a perceived emergency that absolutely can become everyone else’s problem too — not just theirs, especially when you are 50,000 feet up in the air ….

You can’t just say “oh it was a threat” as if that’s any better.

Yeah the airline knew, the general public don’t know that though do they… do you know anything about crisis management?

From ukcaa

Specific rules to note:

• Safety Briefings: You must remove all headphones and earbuds during the pre-flight safety demonstration.
• Take-Off and Landing: Many UK carriers strictly prohibit the use of any headphones (especially wired models) while on the taxiway, during take-off, and upon landing.
• Airspace Rules: Devices emitting signals must be placed in 'flight mode', and Bluetooth or wireless accessories can only be used once airborne. 1, 2, 3, 4, 5]

Non-compliance with crew safety instructions is an offense, and airlines retain the right to remove non-compliant passengers.

Or was shot dead.

So it’s up to cabin crew, all of whom have never had an issue thus far.

I can’t imagine that I’m worse than a kid choosing to go around shouting bomb all the time

Inclusion is not at the expense of everyone else, of whom many would have been terrified. The airline made the right decision.

Even making a verbal threat of a bomb is an offense under the Aviation Security Act (1982).

Hence the statement from uk Tourette’s action