The 19-year-old German student released by gardaí after being questioned in relation to a bomb scare on a Delta Airlines flight which was diverted to Shannon Airport on Sunday has not continued his journey to the United States.
It is understood that he was in the process of returning to Frankfurt yesterday.
The man was released by Shannon gardaí just before midnight on Monday, after undergoing almost 12 hours of questioning about the incident.
The Delta Airlines flight from Frankfurt to Atlanta landed at Shannon on Sunday after a note was found on the aircraft stating that there was a bomb on board. The 19-year-old was arrested 45 minutes prior to boarding the re-scheduled flight to Atlanta on Monday.
He was arrested on suspicion of communicating a false message and thereby endangering an aircraft under Section 3 of the Air Navigation and Transport Act, 1975.
Under the act, persons found guilty of such an offence under Section 3 are liable to a life sentence in prison.
The man's arrest was made at the end of an exhaustive investigation by gardaí, during which each passenger on board the flight was interviewed and fingerprinted over a six-hour period at Shannon airport on Sunday.
However, Insp Tom Kennedy, of Shannon Garda Station, confirmed yesterday that the man was released at 11.55 p.m. on Monday.
Insp Kennedy said results of forensic tests were awaited and that a file on the case was being prepared for the Director of Public Prosecutions.
Yesterday morning, the 19- year-old checked out of the Shannon hotel where he was staying but did not travel on Delta's midday Shannon-to-Atlanta service.
A spokesman for the Shannon-based US Customs and Border Protection Service confirmed that the student had not come through its post at Shannon yesterday.
Under new US regulations, if travelling to the US the 19- year- old would have been required to provide fingerprints and his photo as he is a foreign national studying in the US.
