A United Airlines flight from Newark Liberty International Airport to Palma de Mallorca, Spain, was forced to turn around mid-flight on Saturday evening due to a possible security threat. The Boeing 767 aircraft, carrying 190 passengers and 12 crew members, departed at around 6pm but returned to Newark at 9.37pm.
According to air traffic control audio, the incident was triggered by a passenger who named their Bluetooth device with a 'certain four-letter word'. Crew members repeatedly asked passengers to turn off all Bluetooth devices, but two remained on. The flight turned back after consulting with the airline's headquarters in Chicago.
Upon landing, Port Authority police swept the aircraft, and passengers were evacuated. Transportation Security Administration (TSA) and Customs and Border Protection (CBP) officers re-screened passengers before they boarded a replacement flight with a new crew, which departed early Sunday morning and arrived in Palma later that day.
The airline declined to provide specifics on the cause. This incident marks the third major aviation episode involving a United Airlines flight in four weeks, following a collision with a light pole and delivery truck at Newark on 3 May.
