The incident occurred at Almaty International Airport: a passenger of retirement age was removed from a FlyArystan flight after joking about having explosives in his bag. As a result, the departure of the aircraft bound for Aktau was delayed by two hours, reports infohub.kz.
According to a fellow passenger who posted a video in the Telegram channel Qumash, a flight attendant was unable to lift a bag into the overhead compartment, and one of the elderly passengers decided to help her. In the process, he made an ill-advised joke about the weight of the luggage, saying that there might be explosives inside.
The Transport Police Department confirmed the incident, noting that it occurred on September 3. According to the official statement, the passenger was removed from the flight after making a remark in Kazakh: "Мына сөмкеде қорғасын ба бомба ма?" (translated as "Is there lead or a bomb in this bag?").
Transport police together with aviation security officers promptly conducted an inspection, during which no prohibited items or explosives were found. No evacuation was carried out, and the airport continued to operate normally.
The offender was charged with petty hooliganism, and the case will be sent to court for a decision. Police urged citizens to refrain from such jokes, emphasizing that they could lead to criminal liability and negative consequences for both the offender and those around them.