A Cyprus Airways passenger who activated the emergency chute just before take-off to make his escape was held in custody on suspicion of damaging an aircraft, police said Monday.
Security forces initially thought Saturday's incident could be a possible terror attack as Indian President Pratibha Devisingh Patil was due to depart Cyprus from the airport after an official visit to the Mediterranean island.
"Despite the fact that at first there was a suspicion of a possible terrorist act, the evidence rules out this possibility," Larnaca police spokesman Mamas Parbas told reporters on Monday.
He said the suspect, a Greek passport holder of Portuguese origin, had given conflicting reasons when questioned about his motives -- including seeing someone with a gun on board, to testing aircraft safety instructions.
The flight from Larnaca airport to Athens on Saturday night was delayed by more than two hours following the incident which unsettled the other 157 passengers on board.
The 28-year-old sailor appeared before a Larnaca district court on Monday where he was remanded in custody for four days after vanishing into thin air when scaling the airport parameter fence.
He faces possible charges of malicious damage and trespass.
Police are also baffled how the man managed to evade what is supposed to be a tightly secured airport boundary.
Cyprus Airways spokesman Kyriacos Kyriacou said the state-owned airline would be filing for compensation against the passenger for the cost of damages and the inconvenience caused.
Waylaid passengers, who had to change planes to continue their journey would be paid mandatory compensation, said the airline.
