Like something out of a cheesy romantic melo-dramatic John Cusack film, a Chilean woman forced an evacuation of a passenger plant just before it took off in an attempt to prevent her boyfriend from leaving the country for a new job.
With more than 300 passengers on board, the Iberia airliner was prepared for takeoff and was already taxiing down the tarmac when the pilot stopped the plane.
According to a police source, the plane was grounded after Grace Guajardo called authorities warning of a “bomb” on board the flight from Santiago’s international airport to Madrid, Spain.
The bomb threat was of course false, and part of an elaborate plan by Guajardo to keep her boyfriend, 39-year-old Rodrigo Gomez, in Chile.
Guajardo had called the airport from her mobile phone demanding that authorities tell boyfriend that his father was seriously ill, when that failed to work she decided to phone in a phoney bomb threat.
Rodrigo Gomez was planning to take a job as a waiter in Madrid aboard a cruise ship.
Guajardo has been charged for making the false bomb threats but prosecutors decided not to invoke more serious anti-terror laws after hearing the couple’s story.
Outside the court after being charged, Guajardo said, “It wasn’t the best thing to do, but at least he’s here,”
“I’m sorry, but I did it for love.”
In response to his partners actions Gomez said: “I can’t be angry, I have to support her. What she needs is love, nothing more.”