Posted on 05/31/2026 11:21:57 AM PDT by Red Badger
A transatlantic United Airlines flight from Newark to Palma de Mallorca made an emergency diversion back to New York on Saturday night because a Bluetooth speaker carried by a teen passenger on the flight had been named ‘BOMB.’
United flight UA-236 had departed nearly two hours late at around 6:08 pm on May 30 due to a technical issue with the Boeing 767 used for the service, but this turned out to be a minor drama compared to what was to come next.
screenshot of flight radar 24 showing the diversion of UA236 on May 30 Courtesy Flight Radar 24.
According to data supplied by Flight Radar 24, the aircraft took off from Newark and climbed out over the Atlantic Ocean in a north-easterly direction, passing the coast of Nova Scotia, before the pilots suddenly performed a 180-degree turn and started heading back towards New York.
It quickly emerged that on board the packed airliner that was meant to be taking passengers to the popular Balearic Island of Mallorca, a potential terror threat against the aircraft was unfolding.
Passengers were first alerted to the fact that something was amiss when the crew made several announcements over the public address system ordering everyone on board to switch off any Bluetooth devices.
Most of the passengers immediately complied, but several devices still appeared visible. The passengers were then warned that if all Bluetooth devices weren’t switched off, the aircraft would return to Newark.
When two devices remained visible even after this final warning, the plane started turning and headed back towards Newark.
It turns out that an eagle-eyed passenger had seen a Bluetooth device listed with the name ‘BOMB’ and alerted the flight attendants. They, in turn, contacted United’s operations center in Chicago, which gave specific instructions on how to deal with the issue.
In the end, it appears that the call to divert the plane was made by the airline in Chicago, which also contacted local enforcement to meet the plane once it had landed.
On the ground, the pilots were ordered to taxi the plane to a remote part of the airfield where passengers were deplaned via mobile airstairs and put in buses back to the terminal building, where they had to undergo TSA rescreening.
It remains unclear whether the Bluetooth device was named ‘BOMB’ as part of a deliberate prank, although reports indicate that a teenage passenger later admitted to being the owner of the device.
Surprisingly, after the plane was searched by the police, it was handed back to the control of United, and passengers were allowed to reboard for the flight to continue to Mallorca.
According to United Airlines, the flight is now expected to land nine and a half hours later than scheduled, at around 3:50 pm on May 31.
This incident occurred just days after another United Airlines pilot threatened to call the FBI and have passengers’ phones searched after people noticed an antisemitic Wi-Fi hotspot name during a recent flight.
The hotspot named read ‘Free Palestine, F Zionists,’ prompted a stern announcement from the pilot, giving the culprit just 30 seconds to switch off the hotspot or face the plane being diverted and the FBI being called.
This isn’t the first time that Bluetooth and Wi-Fi hotspot names have caused major security issues for airlines.
In January, for example, a Turkish Airlines flight to Barcelona was intercepted by fighter jets after a bomb threat was posted as a Wi-Fi hotspot name.
Turkish Airlines flight TK-1853 was in its initial descent to land in Barcelona when a passenger noticed an alarming network name in the list of available Wi-Fi connections, which read: “I HAVE A BOMB. EVERYONE WILL DIE.”
The flight crew was immediately alerted, and the pilots declared an emergency, advising air traffic control of a possible bomb threat against the plane. After being ordered into a holding pattern off the coast of Barcelona, the pilots were cleared to land, and the plane was then directed to a remote part of the airfield where Spain’s Guardia Civil police service swarmed the aircraft.
A thorough search was carried out of the aircraft, but no threat was detected. Turkish Airlines, however, vowed to try to find the culprit.
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Aviation Ping!..............Another idiot!...........
It’s not as if the Hotspot name was “I Have A Bomb”.
This is a special kind of stupidity challenge and unless there are consequences other idiots will have a go at it. The idiot had 3 chances to correct his stupidity. My suggestion is to ban him from all commercial flights for 5 years and give him at lease 1000 hours of community service (approval of the assignments to be voted on by the inconvenienced passengers)
“””Bluetooth speaker carried by a teen passenger on the flight had been named ‘BOMB.’”””
All electronic devices should be shut off prior to boarding.
And for those passengers, who say they go bonkers when unable to look at their devices every 5 seconds, they should be given a sedative.
Oh wait, I knew of the other incident, I didn’t realize this was a new one where it did say “Bomb”.
I say throw him off the plane without a parachute.
“””The hotspot named read ‘Free Palestine, F Zionists,’ prompted a stern announcement from the pilot, giving the culprit just 30 seconds to switch off the hotspot or face the plane being diverted and the FBI being called.
This isn’t the first time that Bluetooth and Wi-Fi hotspot names have caused major security issues for airlines.”””
This why pilots are getting fed up dealing with these jerks.
If passengers continue with the stupid, eventually there will be a no electronics rule and all devices will go in lock boxes as you board.
The IQ decline is real.
This is why we can’t have nice things.
In before the “I don’t fly” for whatever reason comment.
They seemed not too worried about it, since there were airports in Canada FAR CLOSER than NYC. So it seems to me that they wanted to ‘make a statement’, rather than any real fear.
dumba55 kid.
I had one loudly call me a b-word when I asked him to fasten his seatbelt for taxi. Still ticked I didn’t have security meet him at the gate.
Anyone who pulls this crap needs to be made to pay for the fuel costs of returning and any other expenses.
better to err on the side of safety than suffer another IslamoNazi terrorist attack, bombing of a passenger airliner
full of people
this is just the world we live in. and I despise all the krap at the airport but ....alas, something is simply necessary
Unless you’ve hacked the device, in general it’s not possible to rename a speaker. You can rename a computer or a phone to have it show up with a different name, but most BT peripherals no.
Hotspots are a different story. Unless the hotspot is a mobile device tether, it’s using wifi, not Bluetooth. I suspect someone was being stupid naming their phone or laptop in both cases.
“A transatlantic United Airlines flight from Newark to Palma de Mallorca made an emergency diversion back to New York on Saturday night because a Bluetooth speaker carried by a teen passenger on the flight had been named ‘BOMB.’”. Almost makes a person want to buy a bunch of Bluetooth stuff and fly out of Newark.
...they should be given a sedative.
They should be given a train ticket..............
You would have been doing us all a favor had you hit severe turbulence and his head met the ceiling.
Yep, a stiff fine, 60 days in jail and costs associated with it.
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