A Southern Californian woman called in a bomb threat to stop her husband getting on a flight at Los Angeles International Airport to visit a woman with whom she thought he was having an affair, the FBI reportedly said.

Johnna Woolfolk of Lynwood reportedly called AirTran Airways at LAX on Nov. 27 and said her husband was carrying a bomb and boarding an Atlanta-bound flight.

After FBI agents tracked her down, Woolfolk admitted the call was a hoax and that she had recently had marital difficulties, the LA Times reported.

Her husband, when he was intercepted at the airport, also said he was having marital problems and his wife wanted him to stay, FBI Special Agent David Gates said.

Woolfolk was expected to plead guilty during a Jan. 9 hearing to providing false and misleading information about the LA-Atlanta flight.

Defense lawyer Gordon Turner said on Thursday that Woolfolk, who is about 50, admitted in court and to the FBI that she made the call and she now realizes it was wrong.

Woolfolk is caring for her dying mother in the couple's Lynwood home and it has been stressful, the lawyer said, adding she also believes her husband of 30 years is having an affair and was flying to Atlanta to meet the woman.

Woolfolk broke down in tears after authorities replayed her conversation with the AirTran operator, Gates reportedly wrote in an affidavit. "She stated that she was not thinking, she did not want to hurt anyone and did not want to cause harm."

"Making a threat to an airline is a serious offense and will be prosecuted," the LA Times quoted FBI spokeswoman Laura Eimiller as saying. "The response to these hoaxes is a great expense to the government."

(Read by Lee Hannon. Lee Hannon is a journalist at the China Daily Website.)

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(Agencies)