The TOI correspondent from London: A 41-year-old Indian man, believed to be an Indian national, has been charged with assault and endangering the safety of an aircraft after an easyJet flight was forced to make an emergency landing in Glasgow on Sunday after he threatened to bomb the plane while shouting “Allahu Akbar”.Abhay Devdas Nayak, who lives in Luton, appeared at Paisley Sheriff Court, in Paisley on Monday for his petition hearing, where he was presented with the first draft of charges against him, namely assault and endangering the safety of an aircraft, in solemn proceedings. “Solemn procedure” is the legal process used in Scotland for prosecuting serious criminal offences.Nayak was arrested and charged after the flight made an emergency landing at Glasgow airport at 8.20 am on Sunday.In the middle of the flight from Luton to Glasgow departing at around 7am, passengers were left terrified when a man came out of the toilets and started raising his fists shouting: “I am going to bomb the plane! Death to America! Death to Trump”, and then repeatedly shouting “Allahu Akbar”. He also pushed and was aggressive towards female air hostesses. A male passenger in row 21 then got out of his seat and grabbed the man and threw him to the ground, tackled him and pinned him to the floor. Two other men also helped restrain him. The men searched the man’s pockets whilst the airline crew searched his bag.A witness told the Sun that the men got the man’s wallet out of his pocket and “he appeared to be an Indian national carrying a refugee status card”. They asked him why he was threatening to bomb the plane. He replied: “Because I want to send a message to Trump.”They continued to pin him to the ground whilst the flight landed in a remote corner of Glasgow airport where it was met by fire engines. Police officers came on board, handcuffed the man and escorted him off.Counter-terrorism officers are assessing videos of the incident.A large number of illegal migrants and asylum-seekers live in Luton.Nayak’s first hearing was held in private in front of a sheriff. He did not enter any pleas and was remanded in custody. He will next appear on Aug 5 for a full committal.The bomb threat happened whilst US President Donald Trump was on a five-day private trip to Scotland to play golf at his golf resorts.easyJet said their “crew are trained to assess all situations and act quickly and appropriately to ensure that the safety of the flight and other customers is not compromised at any time”.
