Teen ‘Prank’ Triggers United Airlines Emergency Landing

A United Airlines Boeing 767 was forced to turn around Saturday evening when a teenager’s “joke” turned into a security threat.

Flight UA236 departed from Newark Liberty International Airport at approximately 5:58 p.m. on May 30 destined for Palma de Mallorca, Spain. After an hour and a half, however, crew members and passengers were sent into a frenzy after a Bluetooth device appeared on devices under the name “BOMB,” forcing the pilots to signal an emergency landing.

United stated that a passenger, reportedly a 16-year-old boy, named his Bluetooth device “BOMB” as a “prank” and turned it on while on board, prompting the emergency landing.

“We have one passenger that seems to be making a funny joke that isn’t so funny,” a flight attendant announced as shown by a recording from a passenger. “It’s going to be compromising the safety of this flight.”

Passengers explained that they discovered the Bluetooth connection on their devices across numerous social media posts. After flight attendants were informed, they demanded all passengers turn off Bluetooth or the plane would be turned around, as posted by a passenger on Reddit. After the one-minute warning, Bluetooth devices remained on, and the plane turned around, according to passengers. 

Individuals on board the aircraft were evacuated as soon as the plane landed back at Newark Liberty International Airport, where they were met with local police and federal agents. Passengers on the flight were forced to go through TSA a second time while their baggage was examined.

“Now we all have to go back through airport security for some reason. Even though all of our bags are still on the plane,” a passenger stated on the Reddit thread created for the incident, along with a picture of everyone in security. “The captain and flight attendants implied multiple times that someone was ‘playing a joke’ as if it was someone doing something blatantly stupid/silly with Bluetooth or airdrop.”

Passengers eventually arrived at their final destination nine-and-a-half hours behind schedule. United Airlines has yet to release an official statement on the event as of Monday evening regarding what occurred or any punishments for the passenger who believed they would make people laugh.