A man who was charged with causing a disturbance at Fort MacMurray International Airport on December 19, 2014 has been sentenced. Luke Penner was frustrated with security at the airport and made some comments that were taken as serious threats, forcing the airport to shut down operations for a period of time. Penner was given a $2,500 fine, he must be on probation for 6 months, and he must perform 80 hours of community service according to the judge. Instead of going to trial Penner entered a guilty plea to a single count of causing a disturbance and the Provincial Court sentenced him for the charge. In the agreed upon statement of facts Luke Penner was involved in boarding a flight from Air Canada when an agent at the airport overheard Penner state to his girlfriend on the phone that airport staff considered everything to be a bomb, which caused the agent to become suspicious.
When Fort MacMurray International Airport staff asked Penner to leave his seat on the plane the man asked staff whether there was a bomb on the plane and started using profanities at the staff, causing a disturbance among the passengers. Because the operations at the airport were shut down for roughly two hours due to the security threat many people were inconvenienced and a lot of money was wasted..Provincial Court Justice James Jacques estimated that the incident probably costs hundreds of thousands of dollars, and around 300 people were severely inconvenienced because they had to wait outside the facility while the airport was searched by the security staff. Penner told the judge “I let my emotions get the best of me, and really messed things up for a lot of people.”
