Nvidia Employee Didn't Say "Bomb" on Airplane

A supposed bomb threat on board a flight headed to Hong Kong led to a jailed Nvidia employee.

Silicon Valley's Mercury News reports that a marketing director for Nvidia now faces a misdemeanor charge. Apparently the Nvidia employee told a flight attendant at the San Francisco International Airport he was carrying a bomb in his jacket.

Yushing Lui, 47, denies he said anything in regards to the supposed concealed device.

The bomb incident took place Thursday on a Cathay Pacific Airways plane just before taking off to Hong Kong. Lui was heading back home after a six-month shift here in the States.

While seating himself in the business class section, the flight attendant offered to take his jacket. When asked if he had anything in the jacket, Lui responded by saying "I have a bomb in my jacket."

The flight attendant backed away from the Nvidia marketing director and informed the captain. It's unclear if the attendant took the coat, or left it behind with Lui.

After a quick call, the resident San Francisco Airport Police arrived and examined the coat, however there were no sign of a bomb.

City police thus escorted Lui off the airport premisis and took him to the San Mateo County Jail. Lui denied saying anything about a bomb while under interrogation, but rather "something to the effect that he did not have a million dollars in his pocket," prosecutors said.

Lui was later freed on a $10,000 bail, with a trial scheduled for March 8.

Chief deputy District Attorney Steve Wagstaffe told Mercury News that even if Lui was joking about a bomb, such remarks on board an aircraft can lead to prosecution.