An Italian Cries “Wolf”

This is something I believe is wisdom not to do:

An Italian tourist aboard a flight from Sydney to Vienna caused an international security alert after he sent a joke text message from his cell phone to his wife claiming his plane had been hijacked by terrorists, the Australian government confirmed Sunday.

The man, Antonio Casale, 35, sent the message to his wife from Kuala Lumpur during a refueling stop on a Lauda Air flight from Sydney last Sunday night, Sydney's Sunday Telegraph newspaper reported.
…
His distressed wife contacted Italian police, who immediately contacted the Italian embassy in Canberra, who in turn contacted Australian Federal Police.

The really sad ending to this?

He was questioned by police and later released without charge.

This was indeed a stupid move to play a hoax like that. I think he was very lucky to walk away with a slap on the wrist. He could have been fined or served jail time for the problem he caused to everyone involved.

ABC news has the story here.