Alaskan Air passenger allegedly makes hoax bomb threat to divert plane away from Seattle to avoid torture by Sinaloa Cartel

A passenger aboard an Alaskan Airline flying from Atlanta to Seattle will face false information and hoax charges for making a false bomb threat to reroute the plane. He says he did it because cartel members would kill and torture him once he landed in Seattle. 

The 38-year-old man, Brandon Scott, handed a note to one of the flight attendants while on the flight which read, "This is not a joke. Several pounds of homemade explosives are in my carry on bag. I have a detonator with me."



"Handle this matter carefully and exactly how I say, otherwise I will detonate the explosives and kill everyone on board," the note continued. 

The note demanded that the plane be diverted to any other airport besides Seattle or Scott would detonate the explosives. 

"Failure to comply will cost the lives of everyone on this plane."

A decision was made to divert the plane to Spokane, Washington by the pilot and crew. Scott sat in first class and said after he was taken into custody that he purposefully lied on the plane. When the bomb squad searched the plane, nothing was found. 

Scott claimed to have been targeted by members of the Sinaloa Cartel who were going to torture and kill him once he landed on the ground in Seattle.

He said he had been hoping to be arrested and taken into custody to escape the members of the cartel once he landed somewhere else. The 177 passengers and six crew members were cleared off the plane by TSA, the airport police, and the FBI. 

Richard Kolko, a former FBI agent told NonStop Local news that there will be a deeper dive into Scott, saying, "They're going to find out who this person was, where'd they come from, what reason would they have for making this kind of claim."

Alaska Airlines told Kiro 7 News in Seattle, "We appreciate their patience and understanding during this situation. We are working to get [the passengers] to Seattle, their original destination, as quickly as possible. We are grateful for the professionalism and care of our flight attendants and pilots throughout this incident."