A bizarre scene unfolded aboard a United Airlines flight bound for Spain Saturday evening after the plane turned around over the Atlantic Ocean and returned to its point of origin due to an issue apparently involving a bluetooth device with a menacing name.
United Airlines flight 236 departed from Newark Liberty International Airport to Palma De Mallorca around 5:45 p.m. local time, but reversed course hours into the flight for a security incident.
The entire flight drama was recapped by passengers on the United Airlines subreddit, with multiple passengers saying that the flight crew made repeated warnings to passengers to turn off their bluetooth devices or the plane would be forced to turn around.
“They kept telling us to turn off our Bluetooth or they would turn the plane around,” wrote Reddit user Impressive-Tap3778. “30 minutes later they said someone still had Bluetooth on and they were radioing the tower for guidance. 30 minutes later announce they are going to turn the flight around.”
Another Reddit user, ryan_at_roomservice, chronicled their experience onboard the plane and seconded the play-by-play given by others.
“About an hour into the flight, the flight attendant announces on the loudspeaker that all passengers must turn off bluetooth immediately or we’ll have to turn the plane around to Newark,” that user wrote. “They said it was an order from Chicago headquarters. They repeated the instruction multiple times, eventually giving a final ‘1 minute warning.'”
Radio audio from air traffic control that was posted on social media overnight relayed what was happening on the plane, which was described as a security incident involving the bluetooth device. Specifically, a bluetooth speaker that had been given an ominous name.
“There was, I believe, a security incident on that flight … someone decided to name their security speaker a certain name so they have a security concern there,” an air traffic controller can be heard saying in the posted audio.
Despite multiple warnings, the bluetooth device apparently remained turned on and the flight crew followed through with their warnings to turn the plane around.
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UA flight 236 returned to Newark around 10 p.m. local time and, according to the same Reddit users, the flight’s 190 passengers were forced to deplane with only their passports and cell phones and were shuttled back to the terminal.
The Port Authority of New York and New Jersey, which oversees Newark and other air- and seaports throughout the New York City area, confirmed to Rabble News that police officers and K9 units greeted the plane on its arrival and conducted a thorough sweep.
“The sweep was negative and the aircraft was cleared,” a Port Authority spokesperson said. “Passengers were re-screened by TSA and Customs and Border Patrol before resuming their flight.”
What happened on the United Airlines flight?
Multiple users on social media have reported that a 16-year-old passenger had named their bluetooth device “Bomb,” or something similar, which prompted the security incident and eventual turnaround.
Rabble News reached out to both United Airlines and the Federal Aviation Administration for comment regarding what happened, but neither confirmed the exact details of those reports.
United said the flight safely returned to Newark “to address a potential security concern.” The flight resumed hours later with a new crew and safely landed in Spain around 3:45 p.m. local time, an airline spokesperson said.
The FAA described the incident as a “passenger disturbance,” and noted that there have been more than 640 incidents involving unruly passengers this year.
The FAA investigates all passenger-disturbance incidents that airlines report. The FAA pursues legal enforcement action against any passenger who assaults, threatens, intimidates, or interferes with airline crewmembers, and can propose civil penalties up to $43,658 per violation.
Federal Aviation Administration spokesperson
A single incident involving an unruly passenger can result in multiple violations, officials said, as well as potential criminal charges.
Port Authority police did not confirm if a person was detained in connection with Saturday’s incident.
The incident involving this Spain-bound flight came just a day after another United Airlines flight was grounded after an alleged hijacking attempt involving a 74-year-old man.
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