A British Airways steward who wrote a bomb threat on a jet’s toilet door mid-flight so he could “save the day” has been jailed.

Mathew Davis, of Commonwealth Drive in Three Bridges, hoped the stunt would mean he would be portrayed as a hero and get a promotion.

But instead it cost him his job and he was jailed for six months at Isleworth Crown Court.

The 22-year-old was a crew member on the Boeing 777 flight from London to Tokyo when he posted the message claiming there was a live bomb on the plane that was going to explode mid-air.

The note read: “The bomb on board will explode at 1600GMT unless our demands are met.”

Davis showed it to a terrified |stewardess when the plane was 35,000ft above the Middle East.

She spent the rest of the flight checking her watch believing her time had come but in reality it was a hoax.

Davis “found” the message and told the captain but luckily the experienced pilot realised it was a hoax almost immediately.

The captain had experienced similar hoaxes before and after liaising with security at Heathrow realised it was not a serious threat and even guessed one of the crew was responsible.

When the jet landed at the end of the 7,000-mile journey on February 11 Davis, who lost his job with the airline after the hoax, was quizzed and asked to write a report.

His handwriting matched that on the back of the toilet door.