Narrative:

During boarding, I was assisting a man with finding a location for his bag in the forward closet. It was big and barely fit, so we had to struggle. Another man behind us, foreign origin, said to me, 'you better make sure that's not a bomb.' I reported it to the captain, who did nothing. I then told #4 flight attendant and she went out to find a manager in the terminal. She found someone whom I don't know. She immediately escorted the man (passenger X) off the airplane. We left without him. Callback conversation with reporter revealed the following information: the reporter stated that after the passenger made his bomb comment to her, she told him it was a federal offense to speak that way, and that she was going to inform the cockpit about it. She felt that they didn't appear to take the matter seriously. After telling the aft flight attendant (#4) about the situation, the #4 flight attendant became upset and took matters into her own hands. Without informing the pilots, she went and got a supervisor to come on board. The pilots were upset that they weren't informed by the #4 flight attendant of her decision to get a ground supervisor until after the passenger had been removed from the aircraft.

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Original NASA ASRS Text

Title: FLT ATTENDANT RPT, S80, ON BOARDING, PAX MENTIONED THE POSSIBILITY OF A BOMB IN ANOTHER PAX'S BAG. CABIN CREW CONTACTED GND SUPVR. PAX REMOVED.

Narrative: DURING BOARDING, I WAS ASSISTING A MAN WITH FINDING A LOCATION FOR HIS BAG IN THE FORWARD CLOSET. IT WAS BIG AND BARELY FIT, SO WE HAD TO STRUGGLE. ANOTHER MAN BEHIND US, FOREIGN ORIGIN, SAID TO ME, 'YOU BETTER MAKE SURE THAT'S NOT A BOMB.' I RPTED IT TO THE CAPT, WHO DID NOTHING. I THEN TOLD #4 FLT ATTENDANT AND SHE WENT OUT TO FIND A MGR IN THE TERMINAL. SHE FOUND SOMEONE WHOM I DON'T KNOW. SHE IMMEDIATELY ESCORTED THE MAN (PAX X) OFF THE AIRPLANE. WE LEFT WITHOUT HIM. CALLBACK CONVERSATION WITH RPTR REVEALED THE FOLLOWING INFO: THE RPTR STATED THAT AFTER THE PAX MADE HIS BOMB COMMENT TO HER, SHE TOLD HIM IT WAS A FEDERAL OFFENSE TO SPEAK THAT WAY, AND THAT SHE WAS GOING TO INFORM THE COCKPIT ABOUT IT. SHE FELT THAT THEY DIDN'T APPEAR TO TAKE THE MATTER SERIOUSLY. AFTER TELLING THE AFT FLT ATTENDANT (#4) ABOUT THE SIT, THE #4 FLT ATTENDANT BECAME UPSET AND TOOK MATTERS INTO HER OWN HANDS. WITHOUT INFORMING THE PLTS, SHE WENT AND GOT A SUPVR TO COME ON BOARD. THE PLTS WERE UPSET THAT THEY WEREN'T INFORMED BY THE #4 FLT ATTENDANT OF HER DECISION TO GET A GND SUPVR UNTIL AFTER THE PAX HAD BEEN REMOVED FROM THE ACFT.

Data retrieved from NASA's ASRS site as of July 2007 and automatically converted to unabbreviated mixed upper/lowercase text. This report is for informational purposes with no guarantee of accuracy. See NASA's ASRS site for official report.