On Friday, February 7, many passengers were inside an American Airlines plane, waiting to depart from Austin, Texas, on their flight toward Charlotte, North Carolina. Unfortunately, they had to be escorted off the plane due to a bomb threat. Reportedly, someone renamed their WI-FI hotspot to "I have a bomb."
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While the Daily Mail reports that the Wi-Fi hotspot's name was "I have a bomb," ABC News stated that the hotspot was actually named "There is a bomb on the flight," not that it would make it any better.
It was ABC News that got the chance to speak with one of the plane's passengers. Bruce Steen, a 63-year-old man from North Carolina, was traveling back home after he had a meeting in Austin. Steen was seated around the front of the plane when he noticed something strange. A young man approached one of the flight attendants with a tablet. He showed her something troubling.
Following that interaction, the plane's pilot announced that they would be returning to the gate, mentioning "administrative issues." However, the truth was that someone had changed the name of the hotspot in a very tasteless joke. Bombs are not a laughing matter in any case, especially planes. Therefore, the plane's crew immediately contacted authorities.
Plane Investigated
A lieutenant from the Austin Police Department eventually boarded the plane and attempted to identify the prankster. "If this is a joke, please raise your hand now, because we can deal with the practical joke differently than if this, if we have to do a full blown investigation of what's going on here," Steen recalls the lieutenant said.
Nobody raised their hands, and soon everyone was escorted off the plane. Police officers had everyone in the plane show their own hotspots, in an attempt to identify the person responsible. Moreover, every single passenger had to rescreen their checked baggage and a dog even sniffed all the luggage and the baggage compartment on the plane, according to Steen.
Eventually, the entirety of the plane and the luggage were swept for explosives. Police cleared the plane and Steen and the other passengers eventually left for North Carolina. In total, the flight was delayed 5 and a half hours. No individual was identified as the one responsible behind the "prank," but many online denounced their actions, calling them names.
