United Airlines pilot allegedly threatens passengers with FBI intervention over Wi-Fi hot spot name

A pilot allegedly threatened to call authorities this month over a Wi-Fi name that was determined to be a potential security threat.

The story came from a person who claimed to have been a passenger on a United Airlines flight that featured an awkward moment when the pilot addressed the travelers and issued a warning.

'You could feel everyone looking around.'

The alleged passenger said the pilot came over the speaker "sounding extremely serious" and said the name of the Wi-Fi hot spot was being interpreted as a potential threat and security issue, Simply Flying reported.

According to the witness, the pilot warned whoever was hosting the network labeled "Free Palestine, F Zionists" had "30 seconds" to disable it or remove it from public view or he was going to have the FBI meet the aircraft when it landed.

"FBI will meet the plane," the passenger recalled hearing.

"The entire cabin got dead silent," the witness alleged in a post on Reddit. "You could feel everyone looking around, trying to figure out who it was."

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The social media user also claimed that while some of the passengers looked nervous, others were laughing because they thought it was an absurd situation.

The storyteller said it felt like an example of hyper-political-polarization, where regular people are bringing political messaging into almost any situation, causing institutions to react with full force rather than risk missing a warning sign.

The quick escalation is what the storyteller found most startling, noting that there was no request from a flight attendant, but rather a serious public announcement that turned an "edgy hot spot name" into a security issue.

However, it is not irregular for pilots or flight crews to raise the alarm over Wi-Fi names out of an abundance of caution.

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Nasir Kachroo/NurPhoto/Getty Images

In February, Hungarian airline Wizz Air had fighter jets scrambled during a flight from London to Tel Aviv over a Wi-Fi network labeled "Terrorist" written in Arabic. According to PYOK, security forces were waiting to meet the plane at Ben Gurion Airport.

PYOK also reported on an incident from January when fighter jets from both France and Spain were scrambled over a Turkish Airlines flight from Istanbul to Barcelona. This incident related to a network named "I HAVE A BOMB. EVERYONE WILL DIE."

United Airlines did not respond to a request for comment about the recent alleged incident.

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