Qantas Punt on Footy Player's Bomb Joke
By Steve Creedy, The Australian | Jul. 03, 2006
Qantas has denied giving a rugby league star preferential treatment by allowing him to travel after he joked that a Muslim teammate had bombs strapped to him.
The airline faces a "please explain" from the federal Government about the incident after delaying a flight from Sydney to Melbourne by at least 30 minutes last month.
Queensland State of Origin and Canterbury Bulldogs player Nate Myles was overheard commenting about bombs being strapped to teammate Hazem El Masri while Qantas flight 427 prepared for take-off.
The NRL team was on its way to Victoria to play Melbourne Storm. Myles had been counselled over the joke and was said to be remorseful.
Qantas would not comment in detail on the incident yesterday but denied it had let Myles off lightly. A spokesman confirmed the team travelled on QF427 on June 22 and that a player was questioned about "inappropriate" comments. "The matter was investigated and the player was allowed to travel," he said.
A spokeswoman for acting Transport Minister Jim Lloyd said the matter had not been reported to the Australian Federal Police or the Transport Department's Office of Transport Security.
"The department has asked for a report as to the circumstances surrounding this incident," the spokeswoman said.
But Qantas denied it was required to report the incident.
Australian legislation leaves it to an airline to determine whether passenger comments pose a threat. It only files a report if it believes this to be the case.
Qantas and other Australian airlines have thrown people off planes for similar comments.
A man was ordered off a Virgin Blue flight to Brisbane in December after joking about a bomb in his friend's bag.
The AFP warned last year that jokes about bombs could result in a $5500 fine. Police at the time said more than 70 people had been detained for comments at airports. Five had been convicted and fined up to $3000.