Why would a diplomat . . . . .

…. who could be presumed to have a reasonable amount of intelligence and international savvy, do such a thing as smoke in an airliner lavatory while flying over the United States, and then when questioned about it by the flight crew, joke about lighting his shoe on fire?

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/04/08/AR2010040805826.html

My answer: Knowing he would be afforded diplomatic immunity, he was testing response times and methods.

Is there any other reasonable conclusion?

[i]Officials said he had been smoking a small pipe in the plane’s bathroom.[/i]

Then again, there was no mention of what was actually in the small pipe.