No bail for American who allegedly made false bomb threat on board SIA flight

The 37-year-old man who allegedly claimed there was a bomb on board an Singapore Airlines (SIA) flight will remain in remand after the court held that no bail will be offered. On Sept 29, La Andy Hien Duc, an American, was charged with causing alarm and voluntarily causing hurt while travelling on board Singapore Airlines flight SQ33 from San Francisco to Singapore. He allegedly shouted there was a bomb on the plane and grabbed another passenger's luggage from the cabin's overhead compartment. He also allegedly assaulted a cabin crew member who tried to restrain him. On Thursday, Deputy Public Prosecutor (DPP) Lim Ying Min objected to Hien Duc being released on bail. He has been remanded at the Institute of Mental Health (IMH) for psychiatric observation. Hien Duc did not appear in court via video link. District Judge Terence Tay ruled that no bail will be offered to Hien Duc. Hien Duc's defence lawyer, Johannes Hadi from the Eugene Thuraisingam law firm, asked for access to his client, which the judge granted. Hien Ducwas one of 208 passengers on board the flight, which left San Francisco at 10.25pm on Sept 26 (Sept 27, 1.25pm Singapore time). The flight was scheduled to arrive in Singapore at 5am. Preliminary investigations revealed that he claimed there was a bomb in a hand-carry bag nearly six hours from arrival in Singapore. The police were informed of the threat at about 2.40am on Sept 28. Two Republic of Singapore Air Force fighter jets were activated to escort the aircraft until it landed at Changi Airport at about 5.50am.<br/>