American Airlines Flight Delayed After Crew Reports Suspicious WiFi Name Linked to Bomb Threat

An American Airlines flight was delayed last week after the crew alerted authorities about suspicious activity on the plane "regarding the name of a WiFi hotspot involving the word 'bomb.'" American Airlines Flight 2863 was scheduled to travel from Austin, Texas, to Charlotte, North Carolina, with a planned departure time of 1:42 p.m. The Transportation Security Administration said in a statement to ABC News that the agency and its partners in the transportation sector "take bomb threats very seriously." "All passengers and their checked baggage were rescreened," the TSA confirmed. Dogs sniffed all the luggage and the police checked the baggage compartment on the plane, Sheen told ABC News. After the aircraft and luggage were swept for explosives, the aircraft was cleared by the Austin PD.

An American Airlines flight was delayed last week after the crew alerted authorities about suspicious activity on the plane “regarding the name of a WiFi hotspot involving the word ‘bomb.’” American Airlines Flight 2863 was scheduled to travel from Austin, Texas, to Charlotte, North Carolina, with a planned departure time of 1:42 p.m. Bruce Steen, 63 years old, of Charlotte, North Carolina, was one of the passengers aboard the flight amid the incident at Austin-Bergstrom International Airport. Steen told ABC News that he was traveling home from a meeting in Austin on Feb. 7 when the incident occurred. He said that he was seated toward the front of the plane and saw a young man walking up to a flight attendant with a tablet to show her something. The flight attendant immediately called the cockpit, Sheen said, and soon the pilot announced that the flight would be returning to the gate due to an “administrative issue.” Steen said that after a few minutes, the pilot came back on and announced that “somebody renamed their hotspot ‘there is a bomb on the flight.’”

An American Airlines flight was delayed by more than four hours when a passenger arrived at Austin Airport with their Wi-Fi hotspot saved as 'I have a bomb'. Police boarded flight 2863, bound for Charlotte, on Friday afternoon and asked the passenger to identify themselves, assessing it could be a 'prank'. All passengers were eventually hauled off the aircraft and held inside the gate, before being re-screened at security, View from the Wing reports Baggage on board the aircraft was taken off the plane and set out on the tarmac for inspection as the passengers waited in a cordoned-off segment. The aircraft was eventually cleared after it was swept for explosives, and the plane finally departed at 6:15pm local time, according to airport officials.