Man boards United Airlines flight in Las Vegas. 13 minutes later, his text message allegedly forces the pilots to turn the plane around
The passenger remained unaware of the situation he caused.
A United Airlines flight that departed Las Vegas for New Jersey on the night of Saturday, Oct. 24, was forced to turn back just a few minutes after takeoff. The incident occurred when a crew member witnessed a 25-year-old passenger send a message that allegedly contained threats to hijack the aircraft mid-flight.
United Flight 1681 returned without incident to Harry Reid International Airport at 11:05 p.m. local time after a flight attendant reported seeing Dante Milne send disturbing text messages during the flight. According to the Associated Press, the criminal complaint states that Milne allegedly wrote he was “gonna hijack this b**** and crash ur row only.” However, the complaint doesn’t establish to whom the message was intended or how it was sent.
Flight tracking data and air traffic control (ATC) communications indicate that the emergency began just 13 minutes after United Flight 1681 departed Las Vegas. KSNV reported that the pilots changed transponder codes to signal an in-flight emergency.
United Airlines passenger didn’t know flight was making an emergency
Milne, on the other hand, remained unaware that the cockpit went into lockdown following his alleged messages, according to the audio between the pilots and ATC. “The passenger does not know anything is going on,” a pilot told ATC. “The flight attendant saw him texting that he was going to hijack the aircraft. They called me, we went in lockdown.”
Because Milne was reportedly oblivious to what was happening around him, the flight crew determined there was no need to restrain him. Aviation expert Reed Yadon explained that this approach was taken to prevent the situation from escalating, but behind the scenes, the crew took precautions to make sure both the cabin and cockpit were “very secure.”
The flight reportedly also had to address the issue of the aircraft being too heavy to safely land due to not burning off enough fuel. Pilots initially tried to cancel clearance for their runway approach as they were “grossly overweight” and needed to “burn off extra fuel” before ATC gave them approval to use the full runway to make the landing.
United Flight 1681 landed 30 minutes after the emergency began, and Las Vegas law enforcement immediately arrested Milne at the gate on charges of making a threat or providing false information regarding an act of terrorism. He later told police that he was just drunk and joking with a coworker in another seat, Fox 5 Vegas reported.
Milne says he didn’t remember the message
Milne reportedly drank beer and several shots of alcohol at the airport bar before boarding the United Airlines flight, and later fell asleep. He claimed not to remember what the messages he sent were about, according to the arrest report.
Milne acknowledged the conversation was a poorly worded “banter between coworkers” and insisted he never intended to take over the plane. The report said Milne expressed remorse over the incident and recognized the gravity of the message. He was later released from the Clark County Detention Center after posting $10,000 bail.
On Oct. 27, Milne was not present during his hearing, but his attorney, James Gallo, appeared virtually on his behalf. Gallo told the court that Milne pleaded not guilty and requested a preliminary hearing. Milne’s next court hearing is slated for Jan. 5, 2027, per KSNV.
Meanwhile, Milne’s hijacking comments came just less than a month after the Oct. 1 attempted hijacking of FlyDubai Flight 1073, which put the aviation community on high alert. Making a threat or providing false information regarding an act of terrorism is a category B felony, which carries a maximum penalty of 20 years in prison and a fine of up to $5,000.
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