Passenger fearing ‘powerful cartel’ made bomb threat on Seattle-bound flight, documents say

SEATTLE (AP) — A passenger aboard an Alaska Airlines flight from Atlanta to Seattle Wednesday is accused of making a bomb threat that caused pilots to land the plane in Spokane, Washington.

Documents filed in U.S. District Court said Brandon Scott, 38, faces a false information and hoaxes charge, The Seattle Times reported.

After the plane took off Wednesday afternoon, Scott handed a flight attendant a note saying he had “several pounds” of homemade explosives in his carry-on and a detonator on him, the court documents alleged.

Scott’s note demanded the plane be rerouted to “any other airport” and threatened to kill everyone on the plane if it landed in Seattle. The note instructed the flight attendant to alert the pilot and air traffic controllers but keep the threat from others aboard the plane, the documents said.

The note said he would surrender “peacefully” upon arrival at the rerouted destination, according to the court filing.

Upon arrival in Spokane, Scott was detained but a search by a bomb squad found no explosives, court documents said.

Scott told investigators he made the false threat hoping to be arrested because members of a powerful cartel were waiting in Seattle to kill him. No other details about his beliefs were included in the documents.

Scott is being held in the Spokane County Jail and faces up to five years in prison and a possible $250,000 fine if convicted. It was not immediately known if he has an attorney to comment on his behalf.