A Boeing 767-400ER bound for Palma de Mallorca, Spain made an emergency U-turn over the mid-Atlantic on Saturday after a passenger's Bluetooth device with the name "BOMB" triggered a security alert. The flight crew issued repeated warnings to passengers, telling them to turn off their devices or risk the aircraft being forced to turn back. When not all passengers complied, the plane declared an emergency and diverted to Newark Airport in New Jersey.
According to United Airlines, Flight 236 departed from Newark at 6:08 PM local time with 190 passengers on board. The security incident occurred approximately 60 minutes into the flight, and the aircraft spent almost three hours in the air before landing back in Newark. Passengers were told that up to ten agents would be waiting for them to determine the origin of the threat.
The owner of the device, a 16-year-old passenger, was not deemed a threat by authorities. The airline confirmed that the device responsible was a Fitbit smartwatch with Bluetooth capability. United Airlines has responded to the incident, stating that Flight UA236 returned to Newark "to address a potential security concern."
Passengers arrived back in Newark and spent several hours on the ground as security teams completed their sweep before boarding a replacement flight in the early hours of Sunday morning. The new flight departed from Newark at 02:30 AM and is currently over the Atlantic, expected to land in Palma de Mallorca in the afternoon local time.
