We love a good tale of passengers behaving badly here at Simple Flying, but todayâs story is perhaps one of the weirdest weâve come across. Weâve heard about passengers being removed for being allergic to dogs, for refusing to switch seats and even for making a joke about vodka (FYI, vodka is no laughing matter, especially two-thirds of the way through dry January).But today, I bring you a tale of two passengers removed from a flight, deplaned by police no less, for what they named their WiFi hotspot. Hereâs how it happened.
What happened?
Passengers had boarded a plane at Detroit Metropolitan Airport on Thursday night last week. The flight was headed to Montreal and was being operated by GoJet on behalf of Delta Connection.
Due to depart at 20:10, the flight was already running a fair bit behind schedule when things started to kick off. First, the flight attendants began striding up and down the aisle asking passengers repeatedly to turn off their WiFi hotspots.
After a few minutes of this, apparently the target had failed to follow crew instructions and the WiFi hotspot was still turned on. Witnesses report the flight attendants then threatening to call the police if the personal connection was not immediately turned off.
Moments later, around 10 emergency vehicles surrounded the aircraft with lights flashing. One passenger, Aaron Greenberg, was on his way to a work meeting in Montreal when everything happened. He told Detroit Free Press,
âI, at first, thought there was someone really dangerous on the back of the plane, because the pilot said they were dealing with someone in the back. It was a nerve-racking moment when an estimated 10 emergency vehicles with flashing lights surrounded the plane.â
Police boarded the aircraft and stepped off the plane with two people. Shortly after, they returned with those two people and escorted another two people off the plane. Greenberg described them as being in their 30s, a man wearing shorts and a woman.
The deplaned passengers' bags were also removed and the pair never returned to the aircraft. The flight finally took off at 01:40, over five hours late.
What was the hotspot called?
So, the exact name of the hotspot has not been confirmed by the Wayne County Airport Authority who dealt with the situation. However, Mr Greenberg said that a flight attendant told him it was called,
âRemote detonatorâ
I mean, if that isnât the stupidest thing to call a hotspot in the history of stupid things. Iâve heard of people having a giggle with WiFi names, from the scary âFBI surveillance van #457â to the amusing âPretty fly for a WiFiâ and my own personal favorite, âNacho WiFiâ. But naming a hotspot for maximum fear provocation on board an aircraft is just plain stupid.
While the delay was annoying for the passengers no doubt, the handling of the situation was both sensible and necessary. Greenberg summed it up saying,
âIt was definitely stressful, but I think they did a good job focusing on handling the situation.â
What do you think? Should the flight attendants have ignored the hotspot name and continued anyway? Or were they right to call in the police to handle the situation? Let us know in the comments.