While the world continues its nearly decade-long hunt for terrorist Osama Bin Laden, the folks at British Airways have him located comfortably in first class — seat7-C to be precise.

According to the photo of a boarding pass featured in the cover story of LHR News — British Airways’ staff magazine — Osama Bin Laden has a seat booked for an Oct. 26, 2010 flight to Washington. The boarding pass also shows Osama’s frequent flier number. So maybe while troops have been scouring the mountains of Afghanistan, OBL has been enjoying hot towels before take off and a quality selection of in-flight movies.

“A mistake has been made in this internal publication and we are working to find out how this occurred,” said a taking-it-seriously BA rep.

While no one has been drawn-and-quartered for the embarrassing prank, ABC news had this to say:

British Airways is currently in the middle of a prolonged labor dispute with some of its unions, and some travel bloggers have speculated that the insertion of bin Laden’s name may have been a prank by a disgruntled employee or former employee.

Is this much ado about nothing? Or is the prank in supremely bad taste?

Airline Gives Osama Bin Laden a Boarding Pass [ABC News]

Want more consumer news? Visit our parent organization, Consumer Reports, for the latest on scams, recalls, and other consumer issues.