UA flight – 'turn Bluetooth off or we're turning around'(old.reddit.com) |
UA flight – 'turn Bluetooth off or we're turning around'(old.reddit.com) |
> For anyone seeking a legitimate source on the bluetooth device comments: you can listen to the KEWR Ramp/Company/Misc archive. Keep the date set to 2026-05-31 and the feed set to ramp/company/misc, but change the time to 0200-0230Z. Then, skip ahead to about 22:55
https://www.liveatc.net/archive.php?m=kewr_co
From ATC
> Do you guys know what happened with that - uh what is that a - 7-6 on the left?
> There's a security detail out there. Someone had a bluetooth they named a certain four letter word; so they have to inspect the whole aircraft including the cargo area. The passengers have to evacuate.
> That's crazy
>43 points 33 minutes ago
>Heard on ramp frequency. United appeared to tell the captain of a different United flight that there was a Bluetooth device with a “certain four letter word” (quoting) on the plane causing the emergency.
Other than that, I can recommend going for IoT devices like VOIP phone MAC addresses in conference rooms, because they're specifically allowlisted for everything and/or are in a different VLAN that doesn't block the endpoints.
Enterprise-grade security is always fun :D
Would an actual bomber actually name their device "Bomb"? Chances are, not.
Is the broadcast a "bomb threat"? If so, does it disappear if the device is switched off?
And if the continued broadcast is perceived to be an active threat, and it persisted even after they turned around, at what point do you say "Well, we haven't joined MH-17, might as well do another 180 and resume our flight"?
If the device was named "turn around or bomb", I'd be more convinced we have a situation.
God, I hate this world run by 5th graders.
I get the "abundance of caution" mentality and it's a big part of why airplanes are so safe. But at some point, pilots _have_ to assume that the rest of the apparatus has done its job. They have to assume that when maintenance clears them, the plane actually works (at least with some degree of trust). And they have to assume that when security lets people on the plane, those people don't have bombs.
That doesn't mean they need to ignore the evidence of their eyes and ears, just that they should apply some base level of reason and logic to the situation.
or was it one of those in-ear headphones that are borderline impossible to turn off when outside of their case?
I would not find it surprising if I learned that a system like this already existed in many airports. I mean now with AI the whole thing could be automated if you don't care about a few egregious errors here and there.
Arghhh
I wonder if there’s Bluetooth interference or if they’re suspicious of something else.
This would be both extremely unlikely, and absolutely impossible for the crew to diagnose in flight.
> Sorry, but we couldn't find data about this flight.
Don't try this at home, kids, (I mean, in the sky).
Apparently something happened afterwards …
They do need to have some form of dedinator, and tying that detonator to a Bluetooth control seems like a design that someone might come up with.
So much doesn't make sense to me. First, if for whatever reason you decided to blow up an airplane, why would you need to wait for so long, that the plane can turn around and land? Why not blow the airplane as soon as all passengers are on board, or at least when the plane is high enough in the air that when it is blown up, no body can survive the fall? It also doesn't make sense to use a Bluetooth detonator, because Bluetooth only works at short range, i.e. the detonator would have to also be on the same plane as the bomb. If you are ok with blowing yourself up as well, why not directly detonate the bomb without a remote detonator?
True, blowing up a plane on the ground would ensure a lot of chaos, the airport would definitely be shut, affecting thousands of flights due to the ripple effect. Some years ago there was a suicide bombing at Brussels airport.
Hmm, looking forward to a visit from the men in black, because discussing about this stuff means we're plotting a terror attack, and "due to an abundance of caution" they have to check whether we're threats.
And some dedotaded wam.