Security personnel came to inspect the plane after someone named their Bluetooth device “some four-letter word,” according to air traffic control audio.
NEWARK, N.J. — A United Airlines flight from Newark Liberty International Airport to Spain turned back on Saturday due to a possible safety threat during the flight.
The flight departed for Palma de Mallorca, Spain, at around 6 p.m., but returned to Newark at 9:37 p.m., according to the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey. The airline said there were 190 passengers and 12 crew members on board the Boeing 767 aircraft.
Security personnel came to inspect the plane after someone named their Bluetooth device “some four-letter word,” according to air traffic control audio. A passenger posted on social media that crew members repeatedly asked passengers to turn off all Bluetooth devices, but two devices remained on. The flight returned after communicating with the airline’s headquarters in Chicago.
Passengers had to be evacuated as Port Authority police searched the plane and were re-screened by the Transportation Security Administration and Customs and Border Patrol before reboarding. The airline declined to provide specific information about the cause of the incident.
Passengers boarded a replacement flight with a new crew, which took off early Sunday morning and landed in Palma in the afternoon.
It’s the latest incident on a United Airlines flight this month. A domestic flight was diverted Friday due to safety concerns unruly passengers. A United Airlines flight landed at Newark Airport earlier this month Crashed into a semi-truck and a light pole.although no one was injured.
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