Stampeded to Death because of Hoax!

Jokes can bloody kill, and in Sri Lanka, it did.

Saudi Air Flight SV 781, a Boeing 747 with 400 plus passengers and 19 crew members, was taxiing on the runway for departure to Riyadh and Jeddah when the pilot was informed he had a bomb on board. The news stated that the airport authorities (presumably through the control tower) also ordered the pilot to evacuate the passengers from the aircraft.

I questioned the report that the airport authorities would have ordered the pilot to conduct an evacuation. Balls! Only the pilot has the authority to do that, and he would be the one making the decision. All the airport people could do was to pass the message and of course suggest evacuation, or refuse to let the aeroplane take off.

Anyway, the pilot stopped the taxiing and had the crew opened the emergency door. At this stage, I am speculating from the news report that the cabin crew did not manage properly an orderly evacuation because the report stated that “panic-stricken passengers poured out.”

One poor Sri Lankan woman was killed and 62 others wounded in a stampede aboard. This was where cabin crew management failed.

Saudi Airlines should be reasonably safe from Osama’s men. After all, aren’t they kinfolk?

But I hope that hoaxer choked him or herself on his/her dinner. Arsehole!