16-year-old accused of false bomb threat on plane at FLL claims it was misunderstanding

A teen who was arrested for making a false bomb threat aboard a Spirit Airlines flight at Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood International Airport appeared before a judge Thursday where he claimed the whole thing is a misunderstanding The teen was taken into custody by deputies after other passengers communicated bureaucrats they overheard him making comments of having a bomb on the flight Riley Smith the accused teen appeared before a judge Thursday There is a zero-tolerance program regarding any sort of bomb threat on any flight the judge declared The teen apologized to the judge Your Honor I just desired to say that I m very sorry he noted The flight was scheduled to take off at p m on Monday to Kansas City Missouri but never left after a patron stated not feeling safe after overhearing a bomb threat Functionaries arrived and detained three people for questioning including Smith while the remaining passengers were escorted off the plane Broward Sheriff s Office later arrested Smith accusing him of claiming to have a bomb aboard the flight His attorney telling the judge the teen s comments were never meant as a threat and spiraled out of control once passengers overheard them out of context Things escalated he is not a danger his attorney reported the judge Chosen observers who sat near Smith and his friends on the flight declared he demonstrated specific regret this instant after making his comments And I heard his buddy just say Hey you can t say that on a plane and by Riley s gestures I can tell that he was like Oh my God I can t believe I just declared that ' stated Haley a witness Nineteen-year-old kid I know how they talk These other people misconstrued it mentioned Erika Ruiz another witness The prosecution argued although the majority of passengers felt safe two others did not The flight attendant apparently went so far and reported Are you sure that you want to go through with this She disclosed Yes ' the prosecutor disclosed in court In the end the judge determined Smith s actions were immature I do believe that if a comment was made it was made by a very immature -year-old minor joking around with his two friends on the plane with no adult supervision and I do not believe that there was and there has not been shown to be any legitimate or real threat the judge announced Smith who lives in Missouri will go back home with his family and is scheduled to appear in court in Missouri on August