A bomb threat at the iconic TWA Hotel, which is attached to JetBlue’s Terminal 5 at New York JFK airport, was allegedly called in by a former aggrieved employee of the airline who has since waged a campaign against the carrier.
The suspect was reportedly tracked down by airport cops after he left a cellphone with a note attached that read ‘explosive device’ in the lobby of the 1960s former airport terminal.
Dillon Vista, 31, is also alleged to have called in a bomb threat to the Port Authority Police Department, sending emergency responders, including the bomb squad and sniffer dogs rushing to the hotel.
Thankfully, specialist officers were quickly able to declare the bomb threat a hoax before they turned their attention to catching the culprit. Officers reviewed surveillance footage from around the hotel and airport which showed the suspect fleeing towards JFK’s AirTrain.
Vista was reportedly arrested at Jamaica Station and taken into custody over the alleged bomb threat.
It has since emerged that Vista is an ex-employee of JetBlue which is based out of Terminal 5, right next door to the TWA hotel. Despite being a passionate employee, it’s understood that Vista was let go by the airline at the height of the pandemic.
So aggrieved with what went down with his former employer as airlines the world over looked to shrink and cut workers, that Vista’s behavior got so bad that JetBlue sought a restraining order against him, according to sources quoted by the New York Post.
In a short statement, a spokesperson for the Port Authority simply confirmed that its officers dealt with a bomb threat, saying: “We were notified of a suspicious package at the hotel. PAPD investigated, and the incident was cleared at 1:02 p.m.”.
