Outrageous Wi-Fi network name forces plane’s emergency landing
A plane with 100 passengers on board was forced to make an emergency landing after a passenger gave a Wi-Fi network a very inappropriate name.
The Turkish Airlines flight from Nairobi, Kenya to Istanbul, Turkey was diverted after the Wi-Fi name “bomb on board” caused concern among passengers.
The airline said the plane landed at the Khartoum airport in Sudan and the flight was resumed after a security check of all passengers and the aircraft was carried out.
“Experts said the Wi-Fi network in question was created on board. No irregularities were seen after security procedures were carried out, and passengers were brought back on the plane once boarding restarted,” Turkish Airlines said in a statement.
The airline did not say whether authorities identified the passenger who had named the Wi-Fi network, however, all 100 passengers were brought back on the flight.
Unfortunately, inappropriate Wi-Fi names are becoming an occurrence on flights.
In May, a flight from Mexico to London was cancelled after a Wi-Fi network named “Jihadist Cell London 1” was spotted on board.
The passenger who noticed the name immediately told the crew and an investigation was launched.
Last year, a Qantas flight that was about to take off from Melbourne to Perth was delayed for two hours after a passenger noticed a Wi-Fi network named “Mobile Detonation Device”.
In 2014, a passenger on an American Airlines flight at Los Angeles airport noticed a Wi-Fi network called “Al-Quida Free Terror Network”.
The flight was delayed as authorities investigated the incident and then it was further delayed for even longer because the crew needed to be replaced as their hours were up.