Flight attendant jailed for Emirates bomb hoax

LONDON (Reuters) - A flight attendant was jailed on Thursday for leaving a bomb hoax note on board an Emirates aircraft he was working on, causing a scare that led to London's Gatwick Airport briefly closing.

Australian national Matthew Carney, 24, left a message in the toilet of a flight from Dubai to London in March which read: "Explosive material can be found in the FWD (forward cargo department). We have the Taliban to thank for this."

A passenger on board the Boeing 777 found the note 10 minutes before the plane was due to land and raised the alarm. When the flight arrived at Gatwick it was taken to a secure holding area and surrounded by armed police.

The 164 passengers and 16 crew were taken off the plane and interviewed. Carney was arrested shortly afterwards.

He pleaded guilty to communicating false information, namely a bomb hoax, at Lewes Crown Court, police said.

His lawyer Andel Singh said Carney had been under a great deal of stress and was "extremely tired" at the time having worked on flights on different time schedules throughout the world.

Prosecutor Dale Sullivan said the hoax had left Emirates with a bill for 42,000 pounds ($66,340) for arranging ongoing flights and other measures. Some passengers were left with a fear of flying and said they would never to set foot on an aircraft again.