Dante Milne has spoken out to explain why he sent a threatening text message that forced a United Airlines flight to turn around midair.
Milne, 25, was arrested October 25, the day after the incident aboard a flight from Harry Reid International Airport in Las Vegas to Newark, New Jersey. The plane, carrying 150 passengers and six crew members, had departed around 11:00 p.m. But never reached its destination. A flight attendant spotted the message on Milne’s phone and raised the alarm, prompting the pilots to reverse course.
The text read: “I’m gonna hijack this [expletive] and crash ur row only.”
Milne later told investigators he sent the message as “banter” to a co-worker seated in row 37, while he was in row 10, according to his arrest report. He had been in Las Vegas for a three-day apprenticeship training program for his work as an underwater welder. Before boarding, he drank beer and had some shots, then intended to sleep through the flight. He woke to discover the aircraft was returning to Las Vegas.
An audio recording obtained by ATC.com captured the pilot explaining the situation to air traffic control. “The flight attendant saw him texting that he was going to hijack the aircraft,” the pilot said. “They called me, we went into lockdown, and we returned to Vegas.”
The pilot also noted that Milne seemed unaware of the escalating situation, stating that the then-suspect didn’t know “anything was going on.”
Milne denied any intention to actually hijack the plane or harm anyone. Per his arrest report, he “acknowledged the seriousness of the aircraft returning to Las Vegas and expressed remorse.”
He was charged with making a threat or false information regarding an act of terrorism, with bail set at $20,000. Milne was held at Clark County Detention Centre before posting bail and being released.
His attorney informed a judge Tuesday morning that Milne plans to plead not guilty to the charges, according to Fox 5 Vegas. He is next due in court in January.
The Federal Aviation Administration is also investigating the incident.
The October 24 scare marked another unusual security disruption for United Airlines this year. In June, a Palma de Mallorca-bound flight had to turn around mid-Atlantic after a Bluetooth speaker named “BOMB” appeared on the cabin’s device list. It remains unclear whether the person responsible for that incident was identified.