Frightening text message that caused plane to divert mid-flight
The passenger on AA Flight 1847 going from San Juan to Dallas saw her neighbor receive an 'R.I.P.' message, the acronym used for 'rest in piece' and took it as a threat to the flight, according to Puerto Rico's Office of Explosives and Public Safety.
Just about 30 minutes into the journey, the plane turned back to Luis Muñoz Marín International Airport in Isla Verde.
The pilot said in audio obtained by the Daily Mail: 'We just have a threat from out back, we're not even sure it's even credible at this point.
'But, you know, with the way things are this holiday weekend and everything else, we figured the best course is just to be safe as possible.'
An American Airlines spokesperson said the plane 'returned to SJU shortly after departure due to a possible security concern'.
'The flight landed safely at SJU, and law enforcement inspected and cleared the aircraft to re-depart,' said the spokesperson.
'Safety and security are our top priorities and we apologize to our customers for the inconvenience.'
Aerostar, the security company at the airport, investigated the message and confirmed that the passenger who received the text had a relative who died the day before.
'It was a mix-up that was handled in accordance with safety protocols,' Aerostar director of operations Nelman Nevárez told Primera Hora.
'There was no real threat to the flight or its passengers.'
In fact, the passenger was leaving a vacation early to return to family members.
The plane departed Puerto Rico again at 10am local time on Thursday with 193 passengers.
It happened nearly a year after a United Airlines plane that departed Houston for Boston diverted because a passenger became sick, causing a 'biohazard' issue.
'The crew is vomiting and passengers all around are asking for masks, etc,' the pilot could be heard telling air traffic controllers.
'I talked to the crew and it sounds like it's quite bad back there.'
Get in touch with our news team by emailing us at webnews@metro.co.uk.
For more stories like this, check our news page.
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Metro
a day ago
- Metro
Frightening text message that caused plane to divert mid-flight
An American Airline plane diverted mid-air after a passenger reported an alarming text message that she saw a seat mate receive. The passenger on AA Flight 1847 going from San Juan to Dallas saw her neighbor receive an 'R.I.P.' message, the acronym used for 'rest in piece' and took it as a threat to the flight, according to Puerto Rico's Office of Explosives and Public Safety. Just about 30 minutes into the journey, the plane turned back to Luis Muñoz Marín International Airport in Isla Verde. The pilot said in audio obtained by the Daily Mail: 'We just have a threat from out back, we're not even sure it's even credible at this point. 'But, you know, with the way things are this holiday weekend and everything else, we figured the best course is just to be safe as possible.' An American Airlines spokesperson said the plane 'returned to SJU shortly after departure due to a possible security concern'. 'The flight landed safely at SJU, and law enforcement inspected and cleared the aircraft to re-depart,' said the spokesperson. 'Safety and security are our top priorities and we apologize to our customers for the inconvenience.' Aerostar, the security company at the airport, investigated the message and confirmed that the passenger who received the text had a relative who died the day before. 'It was a mix-up that was handled in accordance with safety protocols,' Aerostar director of operations Nelman Nevárez told Primera Hora. 'There was no real threat to the flight or its passengers.' In fact, the passenger was leaving a vacation early to return to family members. The plane departed Puerto Rico again at 10am local time on Thursday with 193 passengers. It happened nearly a year after a United Airlines plane that departed Houston for Boston diverted because a passenger became sick, causing a 'biohazard' issue. 'The crew is vomiting and passengers all around are asking for masks, etc,' the pilot could be heard telling air traffic controllers. 'I talked to the crew and it sounds like it's quite bad back there.' Get in touch with our news team by emailing us at webnews@ For more stories like this, check our news page. MORE: Which airline has the best baggage policy? Latest rules for Ryanair, EasyJet, BA and more MORE: Truth behind Amelia Earhart's missing plane may have been solved after 88-year mystery MORE: 'Severe' delays on Piccadilly line after huge fire breaks out near tracks in South Harrow
Daily Mail
a day ago
- Daily Mail
American Airlines flight is diverted mid-air after passenger freaks out over neighbor's text message
A frightened passenger caused an entire American Airlines flight to divert back to the airport after they wrongly panicked over a seatmate's text messages. The AA Flight 1847 to Dallas, Texas, was forced to abort and return to Luis Muñoz Marín International Airport in San Juan, Puerto Rico, on Thursday due to concern the flight was in immediate danger. An unnamed female passenger became spooked when she oversaw her neighbor received a text that said 'Rip' 30 minutes into their journey. She interpreted the message as threatening, causing staff to declare an emergency and divert back to the island, according to local news site Primera Hora. Pilots told the tower they weren't 'sure what's going on' and declared the emergency simply because the flight was overweight, but were returning due to an unknown threat. Pilots told the tower they were treating the threat as a 'level three,' meaning it could be life-threatening to passengers. 'We have a threat onboard,' the pilot said in audio obtained by Daily Mail. 'With text messaging between passengers and flight members, so we're going to need authorities at the gate to meet us just to figure out what's going on here.' The tower asked if the cockpit was secure and the pilot confirmed, before reiterating: 'We just have a threat from out back, we're not even sure it's even credible at this point. 'But, you know, with the way things are this holiday weekend and everything else, we figured the best course is just to be safe as possible.' Upon landing, the message was investigated by Aerostar, the security company at the Puerto Rican airport. It was determined that the passenger had received the text about a relative who had died the day before. The passenger was traveling home from vacation early, Primera Hora said. TSA also inspected the aircraft and did not find a threat. Nelman Nevárez, Aerostar's director of operations, told the outlet: 'It was a mix-up that was handled in accordance with safety protocols. There was no real threat to the flight or its passengers.' The plane took off for Dallas shortly after and landed in the States shortly before 2pm local time.
BBC News
3 days ago
- BBC News
Amelia Earhart: Great nephew visits landing spot in Derry
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