A United Airlines flight from New Jersey (USA) to Palma de Mallorca (Spain) was forced to turn back over the Atlantic Ocean after a security alert triggered by a Bluetooth device on board, NPR reports. United Airlines informed NPR via email that the flight was turning back “to investigate a potential security risk.”
According to passenger accounts and air traffic control audio recordings, a visible Bluetooth device labelled “BOMB” was detected, triggering security measures by the airline. The crew reportedly repeatedly asked passengers to turn off their Bluetooth devices before the decision was made to return to Newark.
Audio recordings reveal this conversation: “There’s a security team out there; someone had a Bluetooth speaker and gave it a specific four-letter word,” another voice replied. “That’s why they have to search the entire plane, including the cargo hold, and the passengers have to leave the plane.” “That’s crazy,” the first voice replied.
The “four-letter word” in this case doesn’t seem to refer to a swear word like “fuck,” but rather to another four-letter word that triggered the airline’s security measures. Presumably, it refers to the word “bomb.” A passenger later confirmed this on TikTok.
After landing, the passengers were evacuated while the aircraft and cargo hold were searched. Several social media posts from passengers who identified themselves as such confirm that the problem stemmed from a Bluetooth device on board the aircraft. Some of these passengers posted photos or videos of themselves on board the flight or at the airport, the timestamps of which match the actual flight schedule.
The Bluetooth speaker reportedly belonged to a teenager, according to a Reddit post and was nothing more than an accident rather than something more sinister.
Wife is on the plane. Guy had a speaker named bomb. He just confessed to it. He said he named it forever ago and forgot about it. He’s 16 years old. Wife’s friend is sitting next to him as they are questioning him.
The flight was later able to take off again but was delayed by about nine and a half hours.