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Airline passenger detained over 'bomb' WiFi name

A Southwest passenger was detained at Seattle-Tacoma Airport after naming his WiFi hotspot "Bomb on Board" and "Bomb Location 19E."

By Ben Hooper
A Southwest Airlines plane on the runway at Seattle-Tacoma International Airport. (CC/Kentaro Iemoto)
A Southwest Airlines plane on the runway at Seattle-Tacoma International Airport. (CC/Kentaro Iemoto)

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SEATTLE, Sept. 12 (UPI) -- A Southwest Airlines passenger who named his WiFi hotspot "Bomb on Board" was detained at Seattle-Tacoma Airport.

Passengers on Flight 3677 to Denver said they were waiting to depart Thursday when they noticed someone on the plane had named their WiFi hotspot "Southwest - Bomb on Board."

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The WiFi hotspot's name was changed to "Bomb Location 19E" before changing to "something about the stewardess being hot," passenger Ken Saldi told ABC News.

"We realized he was probably just goofing off," Saldi said.

However, airport security was not willing to take that chance and the man behind the network names was detained. Passengers said they were taken off the plane for a time and their bags were re-screened before the flight was able to continue to Denver.

Southwest said the pilot made the decision to report the potential security threat.

A Port of Seattle representative told KIRO-TV, Seattle, the man was still in custody Thursday evening. His identity and possible charges against him were not released.

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