High schooler arrested for AirDropping plane bomb threat

A Pennsylvania high schooler was arrested last week after AirDropping a bomb threat to fellow plane passengers.

American Airlines Flight 2051 to Chicago was taxiing at El Paso International Airport on Feb. 17 when passengers received an AirDrop request from a sender named “I have a bomb,” the Texas Department of Public Safety said in a statement shared by WTAE’s Marcie Cipriani.

The plane returned to the gate, where a bomb squad investigation identified the unnamed teen as the sender of the “non-credible” threat.

Now in custody with the El Paso Juvenile Probation Department, the student faces one count of creating a false report or alarm, which is a felony under the Texas Penal Code.

In a statement released Monday, Central Catholic High School in Pittsburgh identified the teen as part of a group returning from a mission trip to the Texas border. 

AirDropping is a wireless service that allows Apple device users to share images and other files. After an AirDrop is sent, the recipient typically receives a message saying the sender “would like to share a photo.”

It is unclear how many of the flight’s 125 passengers received the frightening message. Central Catholic’s statement maintained that the student sent the imprudent threat “in jest.”

After the bomb squad cleared the aircraft, FlightAware records show the plane landed at Chicago O’Hare International Airport just before 9 p.m. — over five hours later than expected.

When reached by phone Tuesday, Central Catholic’s director of communications and marketing, Brian Cook, declined to comment further on the situation.

“[The story] is still developing, and [the student] is a minor,” he said.

News of the Central Catholic student’s in-flight mischief comes shortly after an Indian army engineer made his own bogus bomb threat in a bizarre attempt to delay a flight for which he was running late.

Ajmeer Bhadraiah, 59, was taken into custody and charged with intimidation and violation of the Aircraft Act.