A high school student was detained in Texas after AirDropping a bomb threat via his apple device to passengers on an American Airlines flight to Chicago’s O’Hare International Airport (ORD) from El Paso International Airport (ELP).
After the student sent the threat message, flight AA2051 had to return to the gate so that the FBI West Texas Joint Terrorism Task Force could search the aircraft. The student had just returned from a humanitarian school trip.
Airdropping a message that read, “I have a bomb,” to passengers of the Airbus A319, according to the Texas Department of Public Safety (DPS), happened as the plane was taxiing.
Until officials decided that the threat was not genuine, the bomb squad reportedly searched the plane, the passengers, and the cargo.
The El Paso Juvenile Probation Department has taken control of the student who admitted to sending the message. He is charged with one count of making a false report or alarm, a serious crime in Texas.