RI man charged with false bomb threat

Comments prompted pilot to divert plane

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. - A Rhode Island man faces federal charges after comments he made on a flight from Orlando to Providence Tuesday prompted the pilot to divert the plane to Jacksonville.

Evan Sims, 41, has been arrested and charged with making a false bomb threat on an airplane, U.S. Attorney Roger B. Handberg announced Thursday.

If convicted, Sims faces a maximum sentence of five years in prison, Handberg said.

While the flight was in the air, Sims “stated approximately two times that his travel companion had a bomb on the plane,” the U.S. attorney said, citing court documents. “Thereafter, due to Sims’s repeated disturbances and escalating behavior, the flight was diverted to the Jacksonville International Airport.”

Interviewed by FBI and TSA agents in Jacksonville, Sims said passengers had misheard him and suggested he’d used the word “calm,” not “bomb,” an FBI agent said in an affidavit.

The incident happened Tuesday afternoon while Breeze Airways Flight 717, an Airbus 220, was flying from Orlando to Providence.

Even before the flight took off, Sims’s behavior made passengers uncomfortable, according to the affidavit. Sims argued with his female travel companion, telling her that he had never heard of the airline and that he hoped the airplane did not “go down,” the affidavit said.

He also asked the flight crew about an emergency life raft and made comments to his companion about needing to use the emergency doors, according to the affidavit.

“Sims’s travel companion and the surrounding passengers were uncomfortable with Sims’s statements and Sims’s travel companion asked Sims to stop making his comments,” Handberg said.

“As the flight began the initial ascent into the air, Sims partially stood up in his seat and exclaimed that he wanted to get off the plane,” Handberg said.

Sims would later tell agents that he wanted to get off the plane because his traveling companion had broken up with him, according to the affidavit. He said he was a nervous flier, has a “very dark sense of humor” and had been making jokes, the affidavit said.

However, a flight attendant told investigators that Sims “appeared to be satisfied with the diversion announcement and was smirking while other passengers appeared upset.”

Video taken by passengers shows a man and woman being handcuffed and escorted off the plane by police. The man apologized to other passengers for “messing up your travel plans.”

The 97 passengers and crew had to get off the plane. The airline paid for overnight accommodations for the passengers and flew them to Providence on Wednesday.

Sims would later tell agents that he wanted to get off the plane because his traveling companion had broken up with him, according to the affidavit. He said he was a nervous flier, has a “very dark sense of humor” and had been making jokes, the affidavit said.