I’m not sure how one mistakes a diaper for a bomb, but it was exactly that confusion that prompted a Florida-bound flight to divert and evacuate.
Stink Bomb: Diaper Causes Flight Diversion After Passenger Mistakes It For Bomb
On Friday, a Copa Airlines flight CM393 from Panama City (PTY) to Tampa (TPA) took off from Tocumen International Airport on time at 9:36 am. The flight was operated by Boeing 737-800.
Less than an hour later, however, the aircraft made an abrupt turn back for Panama City after a passenger onboard reported a possible bomb in the lavatory. The flight landed at 10:59 am local time. Emergency vehicles met the aircraft, which was parked at a remote stand on a parallel runway away from other traffic.
Police entered the aircraft. All passengers disembarked. The lavatory was investigated. The result: there was no bomb, just an adult diaper. We even have a picture of it:
Luego de una alerta por el @aacivilpty, de un objeto extraño en una aerolínea las unidades de Fuerzas Especiales activaron el protocolo de emergencia y al ser verificado resultó ser un pañal desechable de adulto. #Prevención pic.twitter.com/n3pBqQZki9
— Policía Nacional (@ProtegeryServir) October 13, 2023
A passenger became concerned when entering the lavatory and finding the diaper wrapped in a black plastic bag.
A police spokesperson explained:
“We had it on a secure runway where police special explosives canine units and special forces examined the object, and found it to be an adult diaper, ruling out any risk.”
The flight took off again after 2:00 pm and arrived in Tampa five hours late.
Perhaps we need to add a new line to pre-flight safety demos admonishing passengers: do not leave your diapers on the lavatory counter, especially if wrapped in a black plastic bag…
FT Communjty Director SanDiego1k is phasing out of the role, and NWIFlyer/Rob will be taking over that role next month.
That was quite “the bomb” dropped at the FT Mod Do today.
I recall something about some airlines wanting the soiled diapers to be wrapped up and placed in the air sickness bags or plastic bags before being tossed in the lavatory trash bins (and definitely not flushed in the toilets). I suspect that some rushed caretaker of the child did as some dog owners with pooper-scooper habits have done with the excrement bags for picking up after the dog.
In this case of an adult diaper, I would assume
the user would tend to be discreet in what they carry in to the lavatory and also careful in disposal. But if it doesn’t fit in the lavatory trash bin, maybe that is why it was left how and where it was.
What was …..fill in the blank of your favorite poster here…..doing on a Copa flight?
What was Dave Edwards doing on a Copa flight?!?!!!
Sorry, bud.
Good one, Jerry. You should put that one in your act.
The Secret Service usually throw away my used diapers but I guess they forgot this time. It was a rather sh*tty situation.
President Biden doesn’t use diapers, but there have been diapers at the White House for some of his much, much younger relatives.
While there have been some weird reports that have gotten the White House Secret Service to go into overdrive at times over what turned out to be non-issues, none has been about diapers as far as I know.