A United Airlines flight carrying 190 passengers and 12 crew members turned around mid-flight Saturday evening after authorities received a possible security threat linked to a Bluetooth device on board.
The Boeing 767 departed Newark Liberty International Airport around 6 p.m. bound for Palma de Mallorca, Spain, but returned and landed back at Newark at 9:37 p.m. Air traffic control audio indicated the incident was triggered when a passenger’s Bluetooth device was named with an explicit four-letter word. Crew members repeatedly asked passengers to disable Bluetooth devices, but two remained active.
After landing, passengers were evacuated while Port Authority police swept the aircraft. All passengers were then rescreened by TSA and Customs and Border Protection before being allowed to board a replacement flight with a new crew, which departed early Sunday morning and arrived in Spain later that day.
United Airlines declined to provide additional details about the incident. This marks the latest in a string of security and operational issues involving United flights this month, including a diversion due to an unruly passenger on Friday and a ground incident at Newark earlier in the month.
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