Share to ClassroomBluetooth Name Forces Plane to Return
A United Airlines flight from Newark to Palma de Mallorca, Spain, had to turn back on Saturday. The reason was the name of a Bluetooth device on board. The Boeing 767 was carrying 190 passengers and 12 crew. It left Newark airport at about 6 p.m. and came back at 9:37 p.m. Air traffic control audio later showed that a passenger had named their Bluetooth device with a bad four-letter word.
A passenger said on social media that flight attendants asked everyone many times to turn off their Bluetooth devices. But two devices stayed on. After talking with United's main office in Chicago, the pilots decided to return instead of crossing the Atlantic with an unknown threat on board. Today, airlines are very careful about any signal that may suggest sabotage— secret damage to a plane. The joke was childish, but the crew followed strict safety rules.
After landing, all passengers had to leave the plane so airport police could search it. Then TSA (the US airport security agency) and CBP (US border officers) checked everyone before they could reboard. A new plane and crew left early Sunday morning and reached Spain that afternoon. This is the latest problem for United this month. A domestic flight also returned on Friday after an unruly passenger.
