Delta passenger arrested, charged with terroristic threat in Austin

A man is in custody after allegedly making an alarming statement while on board a flight at a Central Texas airport. CBS Austin is reporting that 59-year-old Charles Kent Kubie was arrested Tuesday, January 9, and charged with making a terroristic threat at the Austin-Bergstrom International Airport.

Austin police officers responded to the incident at Gate 5 in the early evening, according to an arrest affidavit obtained by CBS. Kubie was on board a Delta Airlines flight that was getting ready to depart to Atlanta, the affidavit stated.

A flight attendant asked Kubie to move his briefcase, to which he allegedly told her that inside the briefcase could be one of three things, “money, a bomb or a gun.” The flight attendant notified the captain, who then called police.

KXAN reported that several of its viewers sent tips to the television station claiming there was an 8 hour delay from the Delta flight over a possible passenger security concern. Along with several armed police officers that came on-board, passengers had to get off of the plane and leave their belongings behind, KXAN viewers reported.

CBS Austin reported officers and explosives detection dogs swept the scene and no explosives or dangerous materials were found on-board. Delta confirmed the passenger disturbance to MySA writing, “After a delay caused by severe weather, Delta flight 1071 became further delayed by a customer disturbance that necessitated the involvement of local law enforcement. We refer all questions regarding the incident to local law enforcement professionals and apologize to our customers for the delay in their travels.”

Kubie was arrested and transported to the Travis County Jail where he is charged with terroristic threat.