A Pennsylvania teenager has been arrested after sending a bomb threat to other passengers via Apple Airdrop on an American Airlines flight.
The unidentified student was returning from a humanitarian school trip to the Texas border when he made the threat, which forced the A319 plane to turn back to the gate for authorities to search the plane.
According to the Texas Department of Public Safety (DPS), the plane was en route to El Paso, Texas, when passengers received an Apple Airdrop message that read: “I have a bomb. I would like to share a photo.”
The FBI’s West Texas Joint Terrorism Task Force and the bomb squad searched the plane, passengers and luggage until they rated the threat as “not credible,” reports Fox News.
Further investigation revealed that the student was the culprit, with authorities saying he admitted to sending the message, with supporting evidence found on his cellphone, which was seized as evidence.
He is now being held by the El Paso Department of Juvenile Probation and faces one count of making a false report or alarm, which is a felony in Texas.
Apple’s Airdrop technologies allowed iPhone users to wirelessly transfer images and files to other Mac users within 30 feet of each other.
No internet connection required.
American Airlines Flight 2051 finally arrived at its destination of Chicago O’Hare International Airport more than five hours later than scheduled.
The news follows an Indian man who was delayed for a flight by trying to delay his plane with a hoax bomb threat.
Army personnel Ajmeer Bhadraiah, 59, intended to catch an Indigo flight from the southern Indian city of Hyderabad to Chennai but was denied boarding after arriving late.
After getting into an altercation with the plane’s staff, he then threatened to ground the flight before calling the police to inform them of a bomb on the plane and demand that he be detained.
After an investigation by the police and the Bomb Threat Assessment Committee, Bhadraiah admitted making the hoax call.
He has since been charged with intimidation and breach of aircraft law.
