United flight 236 from Newark to Palma de Mallorca on Saturday night was forced to turn around just an hour after takeoff due to security concerns around a Bluetooth signal. Multiple Redditors claimed to be on the flight and reported that the crew repeatedly requested passengers to turn off their Bluetooth. According to one poster, the crew issued a one-minute warning, saying that two devices were still active.
One Redditor reported flight attendants making comments like, “This little joke is ruining it for everyone.”
An archived recording from Air Traffic Control (embedded below) confirms that the root of the issue was the name of a discoverable Bluetooth speaker.
“There’s a security detail out there. Someone had a Bluetooth speaker, and they named it a certain four-letter word. So they have to inspect the whole aircraft, including the cargo area, and the passengers have to evacuate.”
While the recording does not explicitly confirm the speculation that the Bluetooth name in question was “bomb,” it would certainly make sense given the response from the crew and security personnel on the ground. It also serves as a friendly reminder that what you think is a clever WiFi or Bluetooth name probably isn’t.