"Bomb on Board" Forces U.S. Passenger Flight to Turn Back... Culprit Was a 16-Year-Old Passenger

Flight from New York to Spain on May 30

Suspicious Bluetooth device named "bomb" discovered

A U.S. international passenger flight was forced to turn back due to the name of a passenger's Bluetooth device.

According to aviation media outlets such as Simple Flying on June 3, United Airlines Flight 236, which departed from Newark Liberty International Airport in New Jersey at 6 p.m. on May 30 (local time) and was en route to Palma de Mallorca International Airport in Spain, turned back to Newark at around 9:30 p.m. after a report was received that a suspicious Bluetooth device named "bomb" was discovered on board.

According to The Guardian, around four hours into the approximately eight-hour flight, a security alert was issued instructing the crew to check for a suspicious Bluetooth device displaying a certain four-letter word.

The crew asked passengers via in-flight announcements to power off their electronic devices, but several devices, including the suspicious one, continued to appear. As a result, the airline initiated emergency security procedures and returned to the departure airport.

After the plane landed, Port Authority police conducted a search of the aircraft, and the U.S. Transportation Security Administration (TSA) and Customs and Border Protection (CBP) carried out additional security inspections on all passengers.

Screenshot from ABC7 New York.

Investigation revealed that the suspicious device was a Fitbit (a smartwatch brand) belonging to a 16-year-old passenger on board. The passenger reportedly explained that they had set the device’s name a long time ago and had forgotten about it.

A United Airlines spokesperson stated, "Flight 236 from Newark to Palma de Mallorca returned safely to Newark in response to a potential security concern," adding that "the flight later departed again with a new crew." The airline advised further inquiries be directed to local authorities.

Due to the incident, passengers experienced a flight delay of over nine hours, and some had to cancel reserved hotels and transportation, resulting in significant inconvenience.

The teenage passenger, whose identity has not been disclosed, reportedly did not face separate criminal charges. However, the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) is said to be conducting additional investigations related to the incident.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.