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Home » Delta Air Lines » Two Passengers Ejected From Delta Flight For Mobile Phone Joke
Delta Air LinesSafety

Two Passengers Ejected From Delta Flight For Mobile Phone Joke

Matthew Klint Posted onJanuary 22, 2020November 14, 2023 16 Comments

a close up of a phone

A couple of general travel tips. First, put your phones in airplane mode when asked by a flight attendant. Second, don’t scare people by naming your phone or wi-fi network something sinister. Nerves are easily rattled onboard a plane…as we saw last week on Delta.

Ejection On Delta Flight Over Cell Phone Name

It was time to depart and flight attendants made their customary announcement to turn off smaller electronic devices or place them in non-transit mode. As usual, no one listened. Another passenger noticed one particularly menacing network, called “remote detonator” and alerted a flight attendant.

As the Detroit Free Press shared:

The flight was already running behind from its about 8:10 p.m. departure time when flight attendants began repeatedly asking for passengers to turn off their personal WiFi, said Aaron Greenberg, 47, of Seattle who was taking the flight on his way to a work meeting in Montreal.

Then flight attendants announced that they’d be calling police if personal WiFi wasn’t turned off, Greenberg said.

It was a nerve-racking moment when an estimated 10 emergency vehicles with flashing lights surrounded the plane, he said.

Police boarded, two passengers (wearing shorts in January on a Detroit to Montreal flight, which seems more suspicious than the wi-fi network, but I digress…) were removed.

The whole ordeal delayed an already delayed flight another three hours and the two passengers with the naughty network were not allowed back on (but also freed, with a caveat that further questioning may come at a later point).

CONCLUSION

As many of us have learned, mentioning the word terrorist in ANY context just doesn’t fly onboard an airplane. And networks like “remote detonator” offend delicate sensibilities and are not suitable for a shared space, especially an airplane.

Was the removal of these passengers an overreaction or did they deserve it?

(H/T: View from the Wing)

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About Author

Matthew Klint

Matthew is an avid traveler who calls Los Angeles home. Each year he travels more than 200,000 miles by air and has visited more than 135 countries. Working both in the aviation industry and as a travel consultant, Matthew has been featured in major media outlets around the world and uses his Live and Let's Fly blog to share the latest news in the airline industry, commentary on frequent flyer programs, and detailed reports of his worldwide travel.

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16 Comments

  1. Anonymous Reply
    January 22, 2020 at 11:05 am

    “ejected”… Lol! Funny visual!

  2. Jerry Reply
    January 22, 2020 at 11:29 am

    Deserved it for sure

  3. debit Reply
    January 22, 2020 at 11:31 am

    How can they find out whose personal wifi hotspot it was?

  4. Billy Bob Reply
    January 22, 2020 at 11:33 am

    Two fewer idiots on the plane — always good news.

  5. stogieguy7 Reply
    January 22, 2020 at 11:55 am

    Is it an overreaction? Yes. But, when you do something like these knuckleheads did, you are begging for trouble. And they got what they were looking for.

  6. JoEllen Reply
    January 22, 2020 at 12:12 pm

    They deserved it if for nothing more than their brazen attitudes whereby they think they are untouchable or humorous or whatever stupid message they are trying to convey. Unfortunately their removal will not be dealt with in a way that they never feel the pain. Ban them forever, maybe not. Allow rebooking THREE days later, lost of value of ticket otherwise or find your own (another) way home or to your destination.

  7. Mark in Ithaca Reply
    January 22, 2020 at 12:19 pm

    “Delicate sensibilities?” C’mon. That diminishes the very serious need for vigilance surrounding aviation security. We do SO many things in the name of security theatre that are utterly useless, but taking it seriously when there’s ANY reference to explosives isn’t being “delicate.”

  8. Jerry Reply
    January 22, 2020 at 12:31 pm

    So a WiFi network named “remote detonator” could blow up a plane? That’s just silly.

  9. Maddraino Reply
    January 22, 2020 at 1:53 pm

    My biggest problem with these knuckleheads is their stubbornness and obvious disdain for any kind of authority. When did we as a human population stop respecting the requirements and policies that we agreed to when we purchased the tickets. I don’t normally agree with much that the airlines do, but they definitely didn’t go overboard by contacting the authorities.

  10. PA100 Reply
    January 22, 2020 at 2:04 pm

    Absolutely not! I am so glad I voted with my feet. Hysteria, fear, the police state über allas snd everyone supports it.

  11. Peter Reply
    January 22, 2020 at 4:36 pm

    informative

  12. Santastico Reply
    January 22, 2020 at 6:38 pm

    Correct to take them out of the plane but it is time to stop this BS that you need to turn your phone to airplane mode right after the door is closed. Why??? Just the other day I stayed almost 3 hours inside a plane before taking off with the doors closed. There was deicing then air traffic control then lots of planes in front of us, etc… So literally 3 hours on the ground without using the phone even to browse the internet. There is no cell phone signal at 30,000 ft so what is the point?

    • James Reply
      January 22, 2020 at 7:15 pm

      Well, considering that a math professor once accused as a terrorist for scribbling a math formula on a napkin, which prompted the busybody passenger next to him report to FA which then made an emergency situation and call airport authorities….

      Its not over reaction as american are generally stupid. Tough in other parts of the world.., well….

  13. Ulysses Reply
    January 22, 2020 at 7:30 pm

    They should have jailed their dumb posteriors, for creating a public panic, and interfering with a flight crew; also, they should be placed on the Do Not Fly list. There should be zero tolerance of this garbage!

  14. Ron Reply
    January 24, 2020 at 2:32 pm

    Make them pay a certain amount to each passenger for the garbage they had to endure plus pay for the expenses Delta had to dish out.

  15. AeRoSpaceman Reply
    March 1, 2020 at 11:01 pm

    Yes they should never have done this on an aircraft. I would like to say something I have noticed for years. People are naming their WiFi networks with all kinds of crazy names now. I can guarantee that anywhere I go I see a “secured” wifi SSID named “FBI Surveillance Van” or “FBI Network” or whatever. Even here in my own neighborhood there is a network called “404 Network Unavailable”. These SSID names are used to just try to stop and prevent people from “trying” to connect to them. Again, these fools should have never done that on an aircraft, but this happens every day all around us.

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