United Flight Evacuated After Teen AirDropped Photo of Air Gun

A teen caused a United Airlines flight to be evacuated after he AirDropped an image of a gun to other passengers. Passengers were removed from the plane and rescreened, NBC Bay Area reported. It was determined that the image wasn’t new, and the gun wasn’t in the teenager’s possession.

A United Airlines flight from San Francisco to Orlando was evacuated on Thursday after a teenager sent a photo of an airsoft gun to other passengers on the plane.

United Airlines Flight 2167 was preparing to leave the gate at San Francisco International Airport when several passengers received the image of a replica weapon via Apple’s AirDrop feature, airport spokesperson Doug Yakel told the media outlet.

The pilot announced a “threat on board” after several complaints were made to flight attendants, according to SF Gate.

The passengers were removed from the plane, rescreened “out of an abundance of caution,” and the aircraft was inspected, Yakel said.

It was determined that the image of the airsoft gun was taken at a prior date and that the teenager did not have the imitation firearm in his possession, the spokesperson added.

The plane was then cleared for reboarding, NBC Bay Area reported. The teenager was not allowed to get back on the plane, the media outlet said.

The airport’s flight tracker showed the plane was scheduled to take off at 2 p.m. local time, according to Newsweek. The flight was delayed by almost three hours and did not take off until nearly 5 p.m., the media outlet reported.

A United Airlines spokesperson confirmed that the flight was “delayed due to a security issue involving a customer on board,” SF Gate reported.

“Law enforcement officials were notified, and our teams are working with them to review this matter,” the statement said.

By Joe Cusmano