A bomb scare t Fort MacMurray International Airport late last year has resulted in a guilty plea. On December 19 of 2014 Luke Penner was in the airport walking towards Gate 1 and talking on his cell phone when an airport attendant overheard him say “I could have a bomb in my shoes, I could have a bomb in my belt, everything is a bomb to these people.” The airport was evacuated as a precaution, and Penner recently entered a guilty plea to one count of causing a disturbance. According to crown prosecutor Dominique Mathurin defendant Penner also stated that he could plant a fake bomb in someone’s luggage in order to get them in trouble. After sitting down on the plane Luke was asked to depart the plane with the attendant, to which Penner replied “What’s the hold up, is there a bomb in the plane?”

When the Fort MacMurray International Airport was emptied because of the bomb scare over 300 people were evacuated and inconvenienced while the airport was shut down. For the next two hours numerous security checks were performed to ensure that there was no bomb anywhere in the facility. Four planes were delayed as a result of the bomb scare. In court Justice James Jacques stated “It had huge consequences for hundreds, if not thousands, of people.” According to the defense attorney in the case Luke Penner was highly intoxicated at the time of the incident. A sentencing hearing for Penner is scheduled for August 26, 2015, so that a pre sentencing report can be completed.