Central Catholic student charged after sending AirDrop that detained flight on Texas field trip
By Marcie Cipriani
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PITTSBURGH (WTAE) — A Pittsburgh high school student has been charged after sending a message while on board a flight that forced passengers off the airplane in Texas and detained the students for a day during a field trip.
Brian Cook, director of communications for Central Catholic High School, says on Friday, while on the tarmac in El Paso, Texas, a text message and photos were sent via AirDrop that included the word “bomb.”
Cook says it wasn’t used in a threatening way and was meant to be a joke.
On Monday, the Texas Department of Public Safety said a juvenile suspect has been detained and will be charged.
According to the public safety department’s statement, American Airlines Flight 2051 from El Paso to Chicago was in taxi when passengers received the following message on their Apple device via AirDrop: “I have a bomb would like to share a photo.”
“Based on this information, the AA aircraft taxied back to gate A2. Subsequent investigation resulted in the identification of a juvenile subject who confessed to the AirDrop,” the statement said. “Evidence supporting the confession was discovered in the suspect’s cell phone. The cell phone was seized as evidence. A bomb squad search of the aircraft, passengers, and luggage was negative for explosives. The threat was mitigated and deemed non-credible.”
Central Catholic families, who said their sons were traveling with the group, said the junior at Central Catholic changed the name of his phone to “I have a bomb” then airdropped a photo of another student who was on the trip to all of the passengers on the plane.
Officials said the suspect will be charged, as a juvenile, with false alarm or reporting an emergency.
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