An Italian man has been arrested after he delayed his flight by calling in a bomb scare because he was running late.
The unidentified 46-year-old man still managed to miss the Alitalia flight from Turin to Rome on Thursday evening despite keeping the plane on the tarmac for two and a half hours.
The flight was only minutes from take-off when the warning came through and was promptly grounded, Italian newspaper La Stampa reported.
"I heard two Arabs say that they had put a bomb on board," the businessman is reported to have told the emergency services.
After the passengers had been evacuated, the luggage search, and the threat established as a fake, it eventually left Turin and arrived in Rome two and half hour behind schedule.
Despite his best efforts, the man – who was reportedly in Palermo on business – still missed his plane as police officers immediately arrested him when he arrived at the airport.
He was held overnight and released the following morning, according to local police.
