American Flight Diverts After Nosy Passenger Causes Bomb Scare

Did they ask the passenger what the text meant or why they got it? Shouldn't that be the first action taken? It seems like the crew member just didn't want to work this trip and would rather turn around.

Either way, this gave me a proper laugh. Thank you Ben.

At a loss understanding how this happened at lightening speed. Snoop reads RIP, manages to find FA, FA convinces pilot something's amiss and diverts in minutes. Must be a record here.

Yeah, this is some real warp-speed hysteria.

Reminds me of when Guido Menzio was suspected of being a terrorist for flying with math equations.

I guess this is the kind of person who calls the police to delate others everytime they do something wrong

will this person be sued for this situation ?

Bombshell no pun intended. The passenger was a Hasidic from Brooklyn.

the lack of due diligence on the part of the crew is beyond astonishing.

Apparently, unlike the participants in this situation; I need a great deal more information before reaching a conclusion / taking action.

When you let hysterical, Cluster B type (mostly women but some men) out in public.

Let me start by saying the person snooping also saw the guy texting the flight number they were on prior to the RIP. The real story never comes out. The crew followed proper protocol so all of you people commenting may not really be getting the “full” story as usual. Two flight attendants didnt want to continue feeling unsafe.

@ KER -- How is texting a flight number suspicious? People text flight numbers to others all the time so that they know when they'll land, etc. Is there more to it, or is that it?

That stupid nosey woman needs to learn to mind her own business and keep her eyes off other passengers' devices. She should be fined and made to pay the cost of the diversion.

American Airlines crew and pilots do this crap all the time. They receive extra pay for a longer trip so they have $ incentives.

So? What’s that supposed to mean?

It means that people stereotype based on looks. I'm Indian, and in my youth I once made a trip to Europe while wearing a beard. I was stopped at every. single. checkpoint. I learned my lesson.

Ashok, and what lesson was that? Shave your beard? If they stopped every single person with a beard it would take years to go through security.

I feel like once the word “bomb” is mentioned, the crew probably has no choice but to act no matter how ridiculous. If a passenger says “their texting is weird” probably nothing would’ve happened but if they said “I saw her text and think she was talking about a bomb” then it’s an automatic return to gate. Can’t fault the crew because they probably thought it was just as ridiculous.

Many years ago, during preview performances of the Sondheim musical PACIFIC OVERTURES on Broadway, the show was stopped and the audience evacuated because of a perceived bomb threat. No bomb was discovered, and eventually the audience was allowed to return and continue with the show. The story was reported in several newspapers, and my friend, Kevin, who attended that performance, has recounted the tale many times.

It turns out that the "threat" was a conversation between two people sitting in the theater. One whispered to the other (apparently loud enough to be overheard), something like "It's a bomb!" The threat was reported, and the two gentlemen were identified and interviewed by the police. Eventually, it was determined that the "It's a bomb!" conversation was a critique of the show. This happened long before our sensitivity to perceived threats was so acute.

Will someone please interview this crazy b!tch and read her for filth so the whole world can see?!

The staff should have questioned the lead up and the passenger should have showed proof. If you punish the staff for being cautious then there will be more incidents going forward that could have been avoided because it would cloud their judgement.

Almost every person in this chain of events is operating in the dumbest timeline.

I'm flying to Jamaica this Friday... I will definitely not use my phone (or get a privacy screen) I used to work at airports and tbh, I'm glad I don't anymore. Smh

How do people this stupid manage to board a flight

yes, it was the crew.

the fact that the FAs did not investigate even remotely and the pilots took the FAs line IS a problem.

Wait till she finds out a lot of Gen Z use the term “rip” to express disapproval or as a response to something negative going on. It’s used far more often than you may tbink

The busybody nosy pax is at fault. And the FA could have handled it better

I don’t think anyone was at fault.

Innocent text message expressing sympathy.

Fellow passenger misread it (even if it wasn’t any of her business), and expressed reasonable concern.

FAs should absolutely not have engaged with the passenger with the text message as that could have escalated and activated a potentially serious threat.

Pilots were also in the right, and along with the FAs should be commended for their quick response.

What's next, someone working on the secret al-gebra code going to be imprisoned or detained? O wait, that has already happened. This is what happens when the US lacks in education.

Al Gebra? More like Al Jazeera!

I work for an engineering services business. We are repeatedly warned to not use the short form of Bill Of Materials when not in a work meeting or if not on site. Slip ups still happen though.

Ridiculous diversion! This is not even the passengers own text; if it was the passenger's own text, I wouldn't blame them directly, but this was someone else's text! The flight attendants should have carefully thought through on if the bomb threat was even real to begin with, rather than diverting out of unnecessary fear. Even then, it's understandable why the flight diverted back. This nosy passenger could have costed all the hundreds of people's lives on the plane, with the flight already flying over the ocean; and they also caused a delay for the hundreds of people going to DFW (and possibly those with a tight layover of <1 hr at DFW) over a text that isn't even theirs. The passenger should be fined at minimum $10,000 if not more for causing potential danger on the plane, and for delaying people's flights; punishable under the Espionage Act of 1917. The Espionage Act of 1917 pertains to the passenger who falsely proclaimed of a non-existent bomb threat, in which the passenger " ma[de] or convey[ed] false reports or false statements" that "interfere[d] with the operation or success of the military or naval forces of the United States", namely the pilot on the American Airlines flight at that moment. Furthermore, the Supreme Court case of Schenck vs. United States (1919) found Charles Schenck guilty and charged him with conspiracy in violation of the Espionage Act of 1917 for mailing printed circulars critical of the military draft for World War I. The extent of danger to which the passenger's action of causing a whole flight diversion is analogous to the Canonsburg Opera House Disaster on August 26, 1911, in which a false shout of "fire" in response to a projector malfunction from a motion picture caused a sudden flash that triggered a panic that killed 26 people. Furthermore, the Canonsburg Opera House Disaster would also qualify as a violation of the Espionage Act of 1917 since the false alarm of fire "interfere[d] with the operation or success" of the theater, in which "false reports or false statements" on the nonexistent fire was made. The Supreme Court case of Schenck vs. United States (1919) would apply to the passenger that incited the diversion of the American Airlines flight with such similar circumstances to Charles Schenck pleading guilty. In conclusion, the passenger inciting the diversion should be charged with conspiracy in violation of the Espionage Act of 1917, supported by the Supreme Court case of Schenck vs. United States (1919), with the passenger's inciteful act punishable with a minimum fine of $10,000, under the Espionage Act of 1917.