Well said JH, though I'd counsel against going into too much detail on this forum if there is to be follow up action elsewhere.
It's inevitable and unfortunate that in any such event there will be a vast majority of innocent customers highly inconvenienced by the malice or stupidity of the one or two - this is no different from the bomb hoaxer or gate no-show who causes a missed slot and thereby disrupts the journey of hundreds on board whilst a security baggage search is conducted. I guess the
PR skill required is to ensure that the justified mass anger of fellow passengers is directed against the miscreant rather than the airline, as well as to send out a wider message as to where the line is to be drawn. I think that you've already achieved the latter, for which well done. The former is made more difficult by the fact that you have an affinity group who will close ranks and are unlikely to condemn their own, rather than a planeload of random individuals who might have been more objective about the true cause of their regrettable experience.
Good luck!