An American Airlines flight from Austin, Texas to Charlotte, North Carolina was evacuated and delayed nearly five hours after passengers discovered a Wi-Fi hotspot warning of a bomb on the plane.
According to ABC News, the hotspot was discovered before takeoff on Friday. It read, "There is a bomb on the flight."
Passenger Bruce Steen told the outlet that he was seated toward the front of the plane when he saw a fellow passenger show his tablet to a flight attendant who then immediately notified the cockpit.
Afterward, the pilot announced that the flight would be returning to the gate due to an "administrative issue." That's when an official from the Austin Police Department boarded the aircraft.
"If this is a joke, please raise your hand now, because we can deal with the practical joke differently than if we have to do a full-blown investigation of what's going on here," the officer said, according to Steen.
No one raised their hand and every passenger was escorted off the plane to have their luggage rescreened by TSA. Steen also said that every passenger had to show their Wi-Fi hotspot to police officers.
The flight eventually took off around 6:15 p.m. local time Friday, roughly four and a half hours behind schedule.
The concerning incident came just one week after an American Airlines regional jet collided with an Army helicopter on approach to Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport in Washington, DC, killing all 67 people onboard the two aircraft.
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