TODAY COLOMBIA – An Israeli passenger was removed from a domestic flight in Colombia after he reportedly joked about detonating a bomb due to a long delay, reported El Heraldo.
Yossef Bronfen, 49, was aboard a Latam Airlines flight 3134 at the El Dorado International Airport in Bogota on Friday (February 24) for seven hours awaiting departure when he apparently lost patience and spoke about bombing the Barranquilla-bound plane, according to some passengers sitting near him in the rear of the aircraft. They said he was joking.
Bronfen had arrived in Colombia on February 13 on a flight from Panama to Cali, landing at the Alfonso Bonilla Aragón airport. It seems he wanted to visit the carnival in Barranquilla, stopping in Bogota for a few days.
But the airline was not amused.
“While boarding, a disruptive passenger threatened to detonate an explosive artifact after which all security protocols established by the company were activated,” the firm said in a statement.
Some passengers said they had been on and off the plane three times during the delay.
“They told us the airplane was having a technical failure and we had to wait another while when the Israeli, who was in the back of the airplane, shouted he was going to detonate a bomb. I think he was fed up with the delay,” Andres Fonseca, who witnessed the incident, told the local media.
After the removal, some passengers decided to abort the trip and the flight with 137 passengers continued on its way to Barranquilla.
Colombia immigration reports the Bronfen deported to Israel via Panama and Istanbul to Tel Aviv, accompanied by Colombian immigration officials.
