There are plenty of bad ideas, but naming your Bluetooth speaker after an explosive device before getting on a transatlantic flight has to be up there.
United flight 236 had been in the air for about an hour on Saturday night, traveling from Newark to Palma de Mallorca, when the crew made a call that derailed the trip for everyone on board: the aircraft turned around and headed back to Newark.
Several reports say the diversion was sparked by a Bluetooth speaker with a deeply inappropriate name that appeared on the cabin’s device list.
According to Simple Flying, the Boeing 767-400ER left Newark Liberty International Airport at 6:08 PM local time, and the situation escalated roughly 60 minutes into the crossing.
On Reddit, multiple people claiming to be passengers described a series of announcements in which crew repeatedly instructed everyone to disable Bluetooth.
They said the warnings escalated to a one-minute countdown, with the message that the plane would return to Newark if two still-active devices didn’t disconnect.
A flight attendant was reportedly overheard telling the cabin: “This little joke is ruining it for everyone.”
One Reddit user wrote: “Currently on a flight Newark to Palma. About an hour into the flight the flight attendant announces on the loud speaker that all passengers must turn off bluetooth immediately or we’ll have to turn the plane around to Newark.
“They said it was an order from Chicago headquarters. They repeated the instruction multiple times, eventually giving a final ‘1 minute warning’.
“They most recently said there are still 2 active bluetooth devices and they are in communication with Chicago to understand next steps.”
With the devices still showing as active, the aircraft ultimately reversed course and returned to its departure airport.
In an archived Air Traffic Control recording from LiveATC.net, a United ground staff member pointed to the apparent source of the alarm, saying a passenger had labeled their Bluetooth device with “a certain four-letter word.” Aviation outlet AirLive later reported that word as ‘BOMB,’ and early reports suggested the device may have belonged to a teenage passenger.
“They have to inspect the whole aircraft, including the cargo area, and the passengers have to evacuate,” the recording states.
Simple Flying adds that the aircraft squawked 7700 (the emergency transponder code) before landing back in Newark at 8:50 PM—nearly three hours after departure.
According to reports, passengers were told that as many as ten agents would be present to determine where the threat originated. Simple Flying also reports that travelers were later moved onto a replacement flight.