Italian Pilot Threatened to Crash Plane If Wife Left Him

An Italian pilot allegedly threatened to crash his passenger jet with hundreds of passengers on board if his wife left him.

Police stopped the unnamed man minutes before his Japan-bound flight was set to take off from Fiumicino airport in Rome, The Times reports. His estranged wife had immediately alerted airport officials after receiving the threatening text message that warned he would kill himself and the 200 passengers on board, according to the newspaper. He is now undergoing psychiatric evaluation.

The Times said the incident took place in January 2015, two months before German pilot Andreas Lubitz deliberately crashed Germanwings A320 into the Alps, killing himself and 149 people.

[Times]