Frontier Airlines passenger at California airport allegedly overheard talking about his backpack. Minutes later, the plane and terminal were evacuated
Maybe he should hold off on playing games at the airport for now.
If there’s one place to watch what you say, it’s the airport, given its strict security measures. Yet one Frontier Airlines passenger reportedly triggered an airport emergency after allegedly making an alarming comment that led to the evacuation of travelers on both his flight and the airport terminal.
On Sunday, Nov. 8, a passenger aboard a Frontier Airlines flight departing from Inland Empire’s Ontario International Airport in Southern California claimed they overheard another passenger say they “had a bomb in his backpack,” according to the California Post. The passenger informed the flight crew of the possible threat, and the bomb squad, Ontario Police Department, and Ontario Fire Department were subsequently alerted, arriving around 10 p.m. in response.
Passengers on both the flight and those in the east wing of Terminal 2 at the airport were immediately evacuated. Authorities later located and detained the person accused for interrogation, confirming that he only had a backpack and no luggage with him, authorities said.
Frontier Airlines passenger says it was because of Call of Duty
During questioning, the passenger claimed the bomb remark was a misunderstanding. He explained to authorities that he had been talking to a friend on FaceTime who was playing Call of Duty, an online first-person shooter game, and that the words “explosion” and “bomb” were used during the gameplay, CBS News reported. Authorities contacted the friend to verify the passenger’s claims before releasing him from custody.
“The friend was playing a video game called Call of Duty and had just been eliminated by an in-game C4 explosion,” the police department’s Public Information Officer, Denyse Quezada, said. “The subject’s statement was related to a video game and not an actual explosive.”
Nevertheless, authorities conducted thorough sweeps of both the airport and the plane, deploying their bomb-sniffing K-9 team to ensure there were no explosives. Passengers were eventually allowed to board the plane again, but it remains unclear whether the passenger who made the bomb comment was permitted to reboard, as reports conflict and the Ontario Police Department has yet to confirm.
“There was a brief incident this evening in T2 related to one passenger,” Ontario International Airport spokesperson Steve Lambert said. “Out of an abundance of caution, the east side of the terminal was cleared, and flights were held during the investigation. The investigation is complete and operations are now resuming.”
With hundreds of thousands of travelers and goods moving through international borders daily, airports are considered high-risk areas. Any mention of a possible threat to public safety is taken extremely seriously and can result in the offender facing civil or federal charges, depending on the gravity—even when it is intended as a joke.
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