American Airlines flight 2863 from Austin to Charlotte was delayed four and a half hours on Friday afternoon because a passenger named their wifi network “I have a bomb.”
Police boarded the aircraft and asked the passenger with that network name to identify themselves, but they did not. Passengers were all taken off the aircraft and held, cordoned-off in the gate area. Eventually passengers were all marched off in a line back to a security checkpoint for re-screening. Bags were offloaded from the aircraft and lined up on the tarmac.
Austin airport TSA checkpoint
A passenger from the flight estimates that there were “at least 3 K9s at the gate as well as a couple [explosive device] specialists. There were also at minimum 8 [police] officers as well as around 20 TSA agents hanging around the gate.”
The gate area can be seen here, as well as bags on the tarmac beside the aircraft in the second photo:
luggage is lined up outside gate 24 at abia and the gate inside is blocked off
byu/velvet-violets inAustin
And here’s the gate cordoned off:
This is one passenger’s account,
[S]everal cops board the plane and announce that someone was playing a ‘prank.’ The prank being that someone on board had renamed their hotspot to ‘I have a bomb.’ Cue the groaning from the entire..plane when the cop announced this. Then the cop gave the opportunity for the individual to come clean…
Thus the deplaning procedure began after the cops went down the aisle asking to see everyones’ devices and their hotspot settings. After that, we all un-boarded and waited in the gate (which had been cordoned off and surrounded by agents). We were told that we then had to go through screening again so all of us were paraded through the airport in a long ass congo line with agents flanking us on both sides.
Austin airport terminal
One year on 9/11 a passenger named their device “Southwest – Bomb on Board” and then changed it to “the bomb is on this seat.” Things got sorted, and everyone realized it was a joke, when it was later changed to ‘something about the flight attendant being hot.’
Another passenger caused chaos when naming their hotspot ‘Samsung Galaxy Note 7’ when those devices were catching fire and airlines were explicitly aksing passengers whether they were carrying one onboard. Bomb on board is another thing not to name your network.
If you live in an apartment or condo building, odds on you see several names meant to be clever. Most of them aren’t. If you’re going to choose condogirl you might as well leave the default set to ATT2sXj6Fk-5g. And I guess it’s fine to name your home wifi Al Qaeda Sleeper Cell or Russian FSB Surveillance Van but using that name on a plane causes problems.
Eventually passengers reboarded the 25-year old Boeing 737-800 (registration N942AN) and arrived in Charlotte long after their connections had departed. I reached out to American Airlines for comment and will update if they respond.
My mother was born in 1913 and died in 2012. During that long life she saw a lot. When I would get mad about something on the news she had a catchall phrase that fits perfectly here:
“People are stupid.”
@drrichard — She was succinct! I like it. We sorely need her ‘wisdom’ today, more than ever.
People who think doing nonsense like this deserve a 15 minute genital tasing
Maybe forced sterilization with a butter knife isn’t such a bad idea afterall.
@Ron –‘What is this, the Dark Ages?’ At least ‘heat’ the blade first. We’re not war criminals.
@Drew –How creative! Though, if they’re ‘into’ that, it may not be the deterrent you seek.
Good brainstorming, fellas.
While the person, most likely, didn’t break any law (that I know of) “STUPID” is the mildest name that I can think of. I would think that the airline has no legal recourse against “STUPID”. Whether the passengers affected by “STUPID” have any recourse, I wouldn’t know. I know that when the jackass ran past security, into the secure area and down the “UP ONLY” escalator at my hometown airport years ago, my flight outgoing flight was canceled, my non-refundable hotel reservation was sacrificed and I sat in the airport parking lot for three hours before I was allowed to get my car and go home. NOTHING I could do to that jackass to “get even”.
Probable cause needed to search everyone’s phone?
If there were an announcement asking someone to confess and step forward, few would. The North Korean way is different. Someone in a foreign tour group stole a hotel towel. The van going to the airport was stopped. The tour guide negotiated with the police. The police would step away for a moment. All the van passengers would close their eyes for a minute. The thief would toss the towel to the interior step of the van. Nobody would be executed or arrested.
@Win Whitmire –That’s incredibly frustrating. If you had it, would travel insurance even cover such an incident? Or an adjuster would deny the claim on ‘force majeure,’ then you have to sue the perpetrator, but of course they’re broke, so… yup, you/we get screwed. Alright. ‘Lock (them) up!’
What’s the legality of police demanding to see everyone’s Wi-Fi settings or anything behind a security log-in?
@NedsKid –Not sure if you are genuine or merely ‘sea-lioning’ here. But, I’ll bite. First, please consult with an actual licensed attorney if you’re serious. I suspect that their initial answer is: “It depends.” Like, on which jurisdiction you are in, for instance. In the US, generally, our federal Constitution’s 4th Amendment is the reasonable expectation of privacy, which protects against ‘unlawful’ search and seizure. For digital privacy, specifically, there’s a federal Privacy Act (1974), and state laws, too. However, once you’re at an airport, within a secure area, the public interest in safety may supersede your privacy interest. Of course, all of our laws are subject to change, possibly dramatically, and very soon. *gestures broadly*
To 1990, great wisdom updated.: can’t fix stupid. Unfortunately it seems to be contagious.
@Douglas Scott—Or, sure, ‘laws’ are silly. Might makes right! Rule of the jungle. Hey, is that leopard over there?
@derek —Sadly, Otto (and his group) were not given that ‘courtesy’ by the DPRK. That ‘country’ also has a ‘constitution’ but it’s ‘democratic’ in name-only. That document is online—read it for yourself. It always ‘sounds nice’ on paper. Reality is different. Maybe we should not strive to become a dictatorship, too, eh. Or was that only on ‘day 1’? I still think ‘separation of powers’ was a brilliant idea, even if might seem messy and inefficient at times, but it worked remarkably well for nearly 250 years (with a few detours). Don’t worry, though you’d be one of the special few to benefit from the ‘other way’ of doing things. Lucky guy.
When stupid person do stupid things especially in a secured areas of the airport and airplane, it cause a very inconvenience experience to everyone around. That person should be held accountable.
So they didn’t end up catching the responsible party?
So stupid and selfish indeed. A) for doing that in the first place and B) for not fessing up and causing extreme inconvenience for everyone else when (presumably) you’re going to get caught anyway, even if not in this case.
Given how WiFi works someone could have broadcast that from the terminal building near the plane.
@P–You raise the right question (actually identifying who did this).
If identified, whether they are ‘charged’ likely is a question of ‘intent’ (chaos, disruption, or a mere joke). Maybe they get a warning, a ban from the airline, or are prosecuted (likely if a repeat-offender).
Back in the day, prank-calling 9-1-1 on a land-line often resulted in an officer being sent to the address, just to make sure everything was alright. Even if it was just ‘kids being kids,’ they’d give ’em a good talkin’. The goal was deterrence. If it keeps happening, fines, arrests, etc.
Here, it seems they did not find the person, and unfortunately the passengers endured a collective inconvenience without any real recourse.