S’porean man, 20, pleads guilty to posting on Instagram about going 'to bomb' Scoot plane before take-off

A 20-year-old Singaporean man pleaded guilty to communicating false information in reference to a thing likely to cause hurt after posting a photo on Instagram indicating he was “about to bomb” a plane.

In court documents seen by Mothership, the incident occurred on Jun. 7, 2025, at about 11:55pm at a gate hold room at Changi Airport Terminal 1.

“Im about to bomb this plane”

The man, identified as Rykes Tan Zhi Kai, was due to board Scoot flight TR876 departing from Singapore to Taipei, Taiwan.

Investigations revealed that Tan was travelling with three other companions.

Before boarding, Tan took a photograph of himself with a Scoot-operated Boeing 787 Dreamliner attached to an aerobridge visible in the background while at the gate hold room.

At 11:55pm, Tan uploaded the photograph onto his private Instagram account in an Instagram Story, with the caption “Im about to bomb this plane”, accompanied by a bomb emoji.

He had 71 followers at the time of the offence.

Tan later claimed it was meant to be a joke.

Automated message

When a friend contacted him on Instagram about the photo, Tan responded with a message that read, “This is an automated message. Tan Zhi Kai, Rykes have successfully bombed the plane and is unable to contact you from now onwards.”

Tan admitted that the message was also intended as a joke, insinuating that he was unable to contact his friend as he had purportedly died.

Police informed

On Jun. 8, 2025, at about 1am, the police received information regarding the photograph from an anonymous informant.

Based on the information received, all Boeing Dreamliner aircraft operated by Scoot scheduled to depart Singapore between 12:10am and 1:50am that day were identified for screening.

Three flights operated by Scoot, TR138 departing from Singapore to Tianjin, with an original departing time of 1:30am, TR186 departing from Singapore to Qingdao, with an original departing time of 1:45am and TR720 departing from Singapore to Athens, with an original departing time of 1:50am, were subjected to enhanced security screening.

The flight Tan boarded departed Singapore at about 1am.

The departure times of the three flights subjected to enhanced security screening were delayed to about 3am.

Tan was subsequently arrested on Jun. 11, 2025, upon his return from Taipei to Singapore.

He was released on bail on the same day.

Scoot incurred a total operational loss of S$1,945.74 across the three flights because of this incident.

Tan has since made full restitution to Scoot.

Critical public infrastructure

The deputy public prosecutor (DPP) urged for a probation suitability report and a reformative training suitability report.

The DPP cited Changi Airport as critical public infrastructure utilised by vast numbers of local and foreign commuters daily and it being integral to Singapore’s standing as a leading aviation hub.

Actions that impinged upon the safety and security of its operations, and that of the aircraft

operating from it, should be met with strong disapprobation by the courts.

Tan pleaded guilty on Jun. 4, CNA reported.

Tan’s lawyers sought to convince the judge not to call for a reformative training suitability report.

The judge indicated he would call for both reports.

Tan will return to court for sentencing and mitigation at a later date.

For his offence, Tan may face a jail term of up to seven years, a fine of up to S$50,000, or both.