ONTARIO, Calif. – A passenger detained after a gaming conversation sparked a security alarm at Ontario International Airport was allowed back aboard his flight after a search found no explosive device, police said. Authorities concluded that no crime had been committed.
The incident unfolded before 10 p.m. Sunday, November 8, on a Frontier Airlines aircraft waiting to depart. Passengers were evacuated from the plane, and the east wing of Terminal 2 was also cleared, according to the police account.
The alarm began when another passenger heard the words “bomb” and “explosion” and reported them to the crew. Those fragments of conversation prompted a response that extended beyond the aircraft into part of the terminal.
CBS News reported on November 9 that the Ontario Police Department detained an individual who explained he had been on FaceTime with a friend while playing an online game of Call of Duty.
Crews searched the plane and found no bomb or other explosive device. Police determined that no crime had occurred, CBS reported. All passengers, including the individual who had been detained, were permitted to reboard for departure.
The reported outcome is important to the description of the incident. A person was detained during the investigation, but the account does not report a criminal charge. It also describes a plane waiting to leave the airport, not an evacuation during a flight.
Eastern Herald has not independently obtained the police incident report or interviewed the passengers. The details here are attributed to CBS’s account of information from police.
The CBS News report did not identify the flight number or say how many passengers were aboard. It also left the aircraft’s destination unclear.
