United Flight From NYC To D.C. Grounded After Security Finds Bomb Threat On Twitter

(Adam Fagen)

Earlier this week a Dutch teenager landed in hot water after sending a threatening tweet to American Airlines. While the teen says she was joking, the airline took the threat seriously, as it should have. After a number of copycat tweets, nearly all airlines have been keeping a close eye on social media. That vigilance resulted in a temporarily grounded United Airlines flight Wednesday evening.

A United flight slated to travel from JFK International in NYC to Dulles International outside of D.C. was evacuated after the airline received a threatening tweet, reports the New York Daily News.

According to Port Authority Police Department officials, United Airline’s corporate security saw a tweet posted at 7:05 p.m. that read: “There is a bomb on a United Airlines Flight from JFK to Dulles.”

The flight, which was scheduled for a 7:40 p.m. takeoff, was already boarded when the tweet was spotted. All 49 passengers on board were evaluated and the FBI searched the plane for explosives.

Authorities were unable to locate any explosives and the flight eventually took off about two hours late.

United Airlines flight temporarily grounded at JFK Airport by bomb threat made on Twitter [New York Daily News]

by Ashlee Kieler via Consumerist