DENVER -- A Denver woman was arrested Tuesday morning, accused of phoning in a bomb threat to Southwest Airlines several months ago.

Terrice Gay Hutchinson, 53, made her initial appearance Tuesday, where she was advised of the charges pending against her.

She was indicted by a federal grand jury in Denver on June 16 and the indictment was sealed pending her arrest.

According to the indictment, on April 17, Hutchinson allegedly placed a telephone call to Southwest Airlines. She said that her husband, a passenger booked on a flight from Denver to Las Vegas, had a bomb and was planning to blow up the airplane, according to the indictment.

The airline and the FBI were able to investigate her threat without interfering with flight operations.

If convicted of providing false information and threats concerning aviation transportation, she will face a sentence of up to five years in federal prison and a $250,000 fine.

"No more of this. Threats involving commercial aircraft are totally unacceptable and will be prosecuted," said U.S. Attorney Troy Eid.

"Prosecutions by the U.S. Attorney's Office in Colorado involving threats to commercial aircraft, interfering with flight crew, and in-air assaults aboard jetliners have more than doubled during the past year alone," Eid said.

On Monday, Eid had appeared at another hearing -- where a woman was accused of punching a flight attendant and disrupting a JetBlue flight from New York to San Francisco.

"I think sometimes people think this is a joke. It's funny. But they're going to find out otherwise as we do more and more of these cases," Eid said Monday.

"Threats of any nature are not a game. As Mrs. Hutchinson has learned, there are consequences for your actions," said FBI Special Agent in Charge James Davis.

Hutchinson's next court appearance on Thursday will be for a detention hearing.