Threatening Tweet at Airport Lands British Passenger Fine

A British air passenger who tweeted a joking threat to blow up an airport in frustration when snow grounded his plane in January learned that it really was no laughing matter Monday when a judge in England fined him $1,500.

Paul Chambers, a 26-year-old accountant who lost his job over the episode, received a scolding from the judge, who said his message was ''of a menacing nature in the context of the times in which we live.''

Chambers, who has 600 followers on Twitter, started his message with this line, “Crap! Robin Hood airport is closed,” and then escalated the vitriol, according to The Age in Australia.