Bluetooth With Frightening Name Forces Plane To Return To NJ Mid-Flight

NEWARK, NJ — A United Airlines flight from Newark to Spain was diverted back to New Jersey partway through its route, apparently due to an alarmingly named Bluetooth device, according to authorities and social media reports.

The flight departed around 6 p.m. Saturday for Palma de Mallorca, but landed back at Newark Liberty International Airport 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.

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In an email to Patch, United characterized the cause of the flight diversion only as "a potential security concern."

According to air traffic control audio, security came to inspect the aircraft after someone named their Bluetooth device a “certain four-letter word.”

That word was “bomb,” according to multiple social media users.

TikTok user Jordan Moore chronicled her experience as a passenger on the flight in several posts on the social media app.

“There is an active Bluetooth network labeled ‘BOMB’ that remains on despite all passengers being told to turn off any Bluetooth networks on any devices we have,” she wrote in her initial post about the incident. “… Two hours into the flight, when the network remained active, the decision was made to turn the flight around and head back to Newark.”

A Reddit user, who wrote their wife was on the plane, shared similar details.

The flight turned around after communicating with the airline’s headquarters in Chicago.

Passengers had to evacuate as the aircraft was swept by Port Authority police, and passengers were rescreened by TSA and Customs and Border Patrol before reboarding.

Passengers boarded a replacement flight with a new crew, which took off early Sunday morning and landed in Palma in the afternoon.

The Associated Press contributed to this story.