Man detained for fake terror info

FUZHOU - A man in East China's Fujian province has been placed in criminal detention for fabricating terror information that caused a flight delay, local police announced on Friday.

The man, surnamed Xie, called the information office of Fuzhou Changle International Airport at about 8 pm on Monday and threatened to "perish together" with a flight bound for Beijing, according to an official with the public security bureau of Fuzhou, the provincial capital.

Xie was caught by police at about 6 pm on Tuesday in Shouzhi village, Changle city.

He said he made the call to the airport as he was not in a good mood after quarreling with somebody on Monday night.

The take-off of Air China flight CA1808 was delayed by two hours and 34 minutes on Monday night as all the passengers and luggage had to go through another round of security checks, according to the police.

Under China's criminal law and civil aviation law, those who intentionally disrupt flight operations by fabricating threats may receive punishments ranging from detention to a jail term of up to five years, or more than five years for those whose actions have severe consequences.

Plane bomb hoaxes have been a frequent occurence in China in recent years. A suspect who allegedly made false bomb threats that affected four flights leaving and bound for Changsha city of Central China's Hunan province on Thursday has been caught by police.