NJ Man's Hijacking Text Grounds Newark-Bound Airplane: Report

BERGEN COUNTY, NJ — A Bergen County man is facing criminal charges after his threatening text on an airplane forced it to be grounded, according to a report from the New York Post.

Dante Milne, 25, of Wood-Ridge, was on a Newark-bound United Airlines plane out of Harry Reid International Airport in Las Vegas on Saturday night at the time of the incident, the report says.

Shortly after takeoff, a flight attendant spotted Milne sending the text: “I’m gonna hijack this b**ch and crash ur row only," according to a criminal complaint obtained by the Post.

The flight attendant alerted the captain, who deemed the incident a security risk and landed the plane, according to the report. Milne had fallen asleep on the plane and woke up to find himself back on the Las Vegas tarmac facing investigators, it adds.

According to FlightAware.com, the plane, carrying 150 passengers and six crew members, took off from Las Vegas at 10:37 p.m. and returned to Las Vegas at 11:42 p.m.

Milne reportedly told investigators he had been drinking in the airport before boarding the flight, and called the text exchange "poorly worded 'banter between coworkers.'"

He was arrested and charged with one count of making threats or conveying false information concerning an act of terrorism before being released on $10,000 bail from the Clark County Detention Center, the report says.

Click here to read the NY Post's full report.