Sick e-mailer faces charges

March 21, 2002

A man who sent a "joke" e-mail to a friend claiming his plane had been hijacked just days after the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks on the United States may be charged after Japan Airlines (JAL) filed a criminal complaint against him.

JAL accused the unnamed man in his 20s of obstructing business by fraud after the female friend who received the mail on Sept. 26, believed it and contacted the police.

JAL officials were furious at the man's attempt at humor so close to the awful tragedy that befall the United States.

"It was too malicious to overlook," a JAL spokesman said. "It caused a great deal of inconvenience."

JAL said the man was on a flight from Kansai International Airport to Seoul's Incheon Airport when he sent the mail. South Korean officials denied the man entry into their country following the uproar he caused. (Mainichi Shimbun, March 21, 2002)