At around 10:35am yesterday, Nordwind flight NWS 2478 was grounded at Phuket International Airport (HKT) by its captain, who radioed in for a full flight safety inspection after a passenger, named as 25-year-old Alexander Nosov [transliteration] commented that he did not want to travel on the plane because he felt unsafe.
All the passengers were promptly escorted off the plane, which was taxied to a safe distance at the west end of the runway, where a UOD bomb inspection team moved into to remove and inspect all of the bags and cargo on the plane. (See story here.)
Speaking to The Phuket News today, Col Somchai Sanprasert, chief of Tha Chatchai Police Station said, “The Russian man, 25-year-old Alexander Nosov, will not face any charges because of he did not say anything threatening the safety of the flight such as saying there was a bomb or dangerous explosive on board.
“In addition, airport officials did not file any complaint against him,” he said.
“Following the incident, Mr Nosov explained what had happened to and also spoke to a Russian consular official.
“He just did not want to be that airplane. I did not ask him the reason why,” Col Somchai added.
“Russian consular officials are taking care of the man are looking to get him on a light to Russia today,” he concluded.