A FLIGHT from New York to Mallorca was forced to turn back amid a security alert after a passenger renamed their Bluetooth device as ‘BOMB’, according to reports.
The United Airlines plane, bound for Palma de Mallorca, departed the US at 6pm on Saturday but landed back at Newark Liberty International at 9.37pm after staff raised the alarm.
Security personnel were called to inspect the Boeing 767 after the name of a Bluetooth device was changed to a ‘certain four-letter word’, according to air traffic control audio.
Aviation outlet AIRLIVE later reported that the device was a loudspeaker and had been renamed by a 16-year-old passenger ‘as a joke.’
According to a Reddit user who said they were on board, the flight had been en route for about an hour when a flight attendant announced that all passengers needed to ‘turn off Bluetooth immediately.’
“They repeated the instruction multiple times, eventually giving a final ‘one-minute warning’,” the passenger told AIRLIVE.
“They said an individual had done something with Bluetooth that was threatening the safety of the flight.”
Despite the warnings, at least two Bluetooth devices reportedly remained active, eventually forcing the plane to reverse course.
Airport security swept the aircraft alongside K-9 units before re-screening all 190 passengers, who later boarded a replacement flight operated by a different crew.
They arrived in Mallorca at around 3.30pm the following day, according to reports.
United Airlines has not yet released an official statement regarding any potential criminal charges or lifetime ban for the teenager involved.
“This little joke ruined it for everyone,” one passenger told AIRLIVE.
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