February 11th 2025.
A flight departing from Austin-Bergstrom International Airport was met with an unexpected delay when a passenger discovered a concerning message on their tablet. According to fellow passenger Bruce Steen, a man showed a flight attendant the message which mentioned a possible bomb on the flight. The pilot was immediately notified and announced that the plane would be returning to the gate due to an "administrative issue."
Steen shared with ABC News that moments later, the pilot informed the passengers that the issue was due to someone renaming their WiFi hotspot to read, "There is a bomb on the flight." Understandably, this caused concern among the passengers and crew. The flight, known as Flight 2863, was scheduled to travel to Charlotte, North Carolina, but was now facing a delay of over four hours.
As a precaution, an Austin Police Department lieutenant boarded the plane and made a statement to the passengers. "If this is a joke, please raise your hand now," they said. "We can handle a practical joke differently than a full blown investigation." However, no passengers came forward and the decision was made to deplane everyone in groups. Steen, who was eager to return home, was among those taken off the plane.
Passengers were then required to show their devices to authorities and their baggage was thoroughly checked by dogs. The plane was also inspected for any signs of explosives. The Transportation Safety Administration released a statement saying that all passengers and their checked baggage were rescreened before being allowed to board again.
It's no surprise that transportation agencies take bomb threats very seriously, as stated by the TSA. After all necessary precautions were taken, the flight was finally cleared to depart for Charlotte at 6:15pm on Friday, more than four hours later than originally planned. Thankfully, this incident did not have any impact on other flights or airport operations.
This delay occurred almost a year after a similar incident on United Airlines Flight 1533, which was diverted due to a bomb threat note found in the restroom and a suspicious bag. The plane made an emergency landing in Chicago and it took five hours before passengers were allowed back on the same plane after thorough security checks were conducted. The American Airlines incident also came just over a week after a regional jet operated by the carrier collided with a Black Hawk helicopter, causing the worst aviation disaster in the US since 2001.
[This article has been trending online recently and has been generated with AI. Your feed is customized.]
[Generative AI is experimental.]
