Man Whose 'Hijack' Text Caused Plane to Turn Back Said It Was Banter with Co-Worker, Police Say

Ground ^ | 10/28/2026

[Responsibility2nd]

• On Saturday, Oct. 24, United Flight 1681 returned to Las Vegas after a flight attendant discovered a passenger texting about hijacking the aircraft, forcing the diversion about 10 minutes after takeoff.
• The pilot diverted to Harry Reid International Airport after the attendant notified the captain that a passenger messaged, "I'm gonna hijack," prompting crew to report a 'potential safety concern' to authorities.
• During police interviews, Dante Raymond Milne, 25, claimed the message was "banter between coworkers" and denied intent to harm, though he allegedly sent racial slurs about crew members to another passenger.
• Officers arrested Milne for making a terrorist threat, a felony charge, and booked him into the Clark County Detention Center before he posted $10,000 bail and was released.
• Milne plans to plead not guilty, with a preliminary hearing scheduled for Jan. 5, 2027, to address the felony charge according to court records.

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TOPICS: Business/Economy
KEYWORDS: hijack

[Responsibility2nd]

What a tool.

[one guy in new jersey]

Seeing eye-to-eye tonight with you on this one, R2!

[Texan4Life]

The Zero Tolerance for “No Hijack Jokes” in the airport or on the plane, whether you’re talking to yourself, a friend, or or to anyone, is, an offense.

New details emerge after United ‘hijacking’ threat — as 25-year-old suspect’s chilling messages are revealed

Chilling new details have emerged in a terrifying midair security crisis that prompted a United Airlines pilot to place a Newark-bound flight on immediate lockdown over the weekend, after a passenger was caught sending explicit messages threatening an act of terrorism.

According to a criminal complaint, 25-year-old Dante Milne communicated via his mobile device that he was “gonna hijack this” plane—using an expletive in the message.

Milne was arrested and booked into the Clark County Detention Center in Las Vegas on felony charges of making threats or conveying false information regarding an act of terrorism.

Because the diversion caused the flight crew to exceed their federally mandated operating hours, the remaining 149 passengers were forced to stay in Las Vegas overnight before departing on a rescheduled flight to Newark on Sunday morning.

https://nypost.com/2026/10/26/us-news/chilling-messages-revealed-in-united-flight-hijack-threat/

[Paladin2]

Deport him to Yemen.

[OldHarbor]

Dante, you big dummy.

[dayglored]

Hijack, bomb, knife, hostage, blow-up, etc. are verboten.

One rapidly learns to limit one's language around airports and on planes.

Either by learning from others, or the way this joker did.

[TBP]

This is why Hy Jack is on the no-fly list.

[stanne]

There is just nothing funnier that jokes about hijacking in-flight while Texas, New York and Michigan are about to give over, and France is up in flames and the media is totally covering up

It is just lol

[ridesthemiles]

STUPID ACTIN TOTAL === DUMBER YET TO DO SO IN NEVADA=== THEIR PRISONS ARE NOT PLAYGROUNDS OR HOTELS.

[alexander_busek]

THEIR PRISONS ARE NOT PLAYGROUNDS OR HOTELS.

I wonder: To what "circle of Hell" would they correspond?

Regards,

[alexander_busek]

During police interviews, Dante Raymond Milne, 25, claimed the message was "banter between coworkers" and denied intent to harm, though he allegedly sent racial slurs about crew members to another passenger.

I thought that it was conceptually impossible for a member of the privileged class (i.e., minorities) to commit acts of racism!

I tried googling his name in the hope of finding a mugshot of the perp, but garnered only generic images of gormless-looking White guys in polo shirts sitting in Economy, thumbing their phones. But unless it is revealed that his parents were fans of a certain 13th/14th-century Italian poet, I'm sticking with the assumption that the potential hijacker was, umm, of a certain socio-ethnic class.

Regards,

[DannyTN]

I guess I wont text about the blonde BOMBSHELL in seat 7C.