Wi-Fi network causes flight in LA to be delayed

A Los Angeles International Airport flight bound for London was cancelled Sunday when a passenger’s phone picked up the Wi-Fi signal “al-Quida Free Terror Nettwork” that was emanating from a fellow flier’s hotspot minutes before the United Airlines flight was set to liftoff. After a concerned passenger notified a flight attendant of the network at about 9:30pm, the plane taxied to a remote section of the Los Angeles airport and was held there for three hours. The plane was searched as passengers of Flight 136 were ordered to power off electronic devices, local media said.

A transatlantic American Airlines flight was delayed Sunday after a passenger noticed a portable Wi-Fi connection named “Al-Quida Free Terror Nettwork.” American Airlines Flight 136 was scheduled to fly from Los Angeles International Airport to London, but a passenger’s discovery of the poorly spelled Wi-Fi network initially delayed the flight for three hours during an investigation, according to CNN affiliate KABC. U.S. Customs and Border Protection officials cleared the flight, but the flight crew didn’t want to fly Sunday afternoon, according to KABC. Eventually, the flight was rescheduled for Monday afternoon. “It must have been somebody on the aircraft,” passenger Elliot del Pra told KABC. “Thank goodness that we did not fly because you just don’t know,” del Pra said. “It’s very scary to think somebody would actually do that, especially on an international flight.”