A transatlantic flight carrying nearly 200 passengers never made it to its European destination on time — and a Bluetooth network name is at the center of the story.
United Airlines Flight 236 lifted off from Newark Liberty International Airport in New Jersey at 5:43 p.m. on Saturday, May 30, with Palma de Mallorca, Spain locked in as the destination.
The Boeing 767 had 190 passengers and 12 crew members on board when it departed.
Hours after wheels left the ground, the aircraft reversed course entirely and headed back to Newark, flight tracking data from FlightAware confirmed.
United Airlines pointed to a “potential security concern” when explaining the sudden diversion in an official statement.
A passenger named Jordan Moore was sitting aboard the plane when the situation unfolded, and she brought the story to TikTok shortly after.
Moore described the moment another passenger, during takeoff, pulled up their device and spotted something alarming — an active Bluetooth network broadcasting under the name “BOMB.”
Flight crew had already made a public announcement asking everyone on board to disable their Bluetooth connections before the discovery was made.
“This network was discovered by a passenger during takeoff, and flight staff was notified immediately,” Moore wrote.
A second announcement went out from the crew requesting all Bluetooth devices be shut down. According to Moore, the network stayed visible anyway.
With the signal persisting, Moore wrote that “the situation was escalated up the chain of command,” and a decision came down to turn the plane around.
Crew members told passengers they personally suspected the name was, in Moore’s words, “a ‘selfish joke’” — but the potential threat still demanded a full response.
Moore did not hold back in her post: “Who tf labels their Bluetooth network ‘BOMB’ what kind of sick joke is this 😭.”
Back on the ground at Newark, the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey confirmed the plane touched down without any incident.
Once passengers stepped off, Port Authority police moved in — K9 units included — and swept the entire aircraft.
Federal agencies then got involved. The Transportation Security Administration and U.S. Customs and Border Protection re-screened every passenger before anyone was allowed back on board.
The plane was cleared and declared safe for flight following the sweep and re-screening process.
FlightAware records show a second departure took place at 2:19 a.m. the following morning, this time with a fresh crew at the helm, per United Airlines.
The flight did eventually reach Palma de Mallorca — just several hours behind schedule and with a story passengers will not soon forget.
