'Turn Bluetooth off, or we're turning around.'

The 190 passengers of a United Airlines flight from Newark, New Jersey to Palma de Mallorca, Spain had settled into their seats for their overnight flight when the captain gave an announcement: everyone had to turn off their Bluetooth devices — or he was going to turn around the plane. This confounded passengers, because Bluetooth is safe for airplanes. It stays enabled when devices are on airplane mode. United even encourages using Bluetooth headphones to connect to in-flight entertainment. What was going on? The flight crew couldn't say. So the passengers took to...where else? Reddit. Show notes: UA flight - 'turn bluetooth off or we're turning around' (Reddit https://www.reddit.com/r/unitedairlines/comments/1tse6mq/ua_flight_turn_bluetooth_off_or_were_turning/) This episode was reported and produced by Grace Tatter, and co-hosted by Grace Tatter, Amory Sivertson and Ben Brock Johnson. It was edited by Dave Shaw. Mix and sound design by Emily Jankowski and Paul Vaitkus.

Speaker names marked ? are inferred from speaking time and the show’s known hosts — they are not voice-verified.

• 0:00Speaker 00

  Support for this podcast comes from Is Business Broken?, a podcast from the Marotra Institute at BU Questram School of Business. A recent episode looks at what the rise of the gig economy means for workers, businesses, and the future of work. Stick around until the end of this podcast to preview the episode.

• 0:21Speaker 01

  Fall never arrives all at once. Burst the air, then the light. And slowly, the things you love begin to find each other. A jacket meets a dress, a hoodie slips beneath a blazer, an old cap finds a new scarf. Because you don't simply step into the season, you create it, layer by layer, until it finally feels like fall. Find fall your way at Ross.

• 0:49Speaker 00

  At Edward Jones, we believe rich means opening yourself to new possibilities. That's why your dedicated financial advisor meets you where you are, helping you move forward with confidence. Let's find your rich. Edward Jones. Member SIPC.

• 1:05Speaker 02

  WBUR Podcasts, Boston.

• 1:13Ben Brock Johnson?

  Recently, producer Grace Tatter joined Amory and I in the studios of WBUR to tell us about a real trip.

• 1:23Speaker 02

  Okay, Ben and Amory, I feel like we're ready. We're in the travel mindset. We're ready to go on a trip. Ben's always ready. He's always prepared.

• 1:31Ben Brock Johnson?

  I'm always ready. If by that, I mean, there's nothing that I do to get ready, except do what I'm told to get into the plane chair.

• 1:41Speaker 02

  Okay, so we're getting in a plane chair. It's a red eye.

• 1:45Ben Brock Johnson?

  Okay.

• 1:45Speaker 02

  How are we preparing for a red eye?

• 1:47Amory Sivertson?

  I've got my neck pillow, I've got my eye mask, I've got stretchy pants, I've got comfy socks, and I've got a book to help me fall asleep. And I'm going to use almost none of these things because I'm just going to stay up and watch movies.

• 2:04Speaker 02

  Fair enough. Okay, so on this plane that we are boarding, there are 190 passengers. Many of them are probably like you, you know, hoping for the best, hoping that they're going to get a good night's sleep because they're flying from Newark Airport in New Jersey to Palma in Mallorca, Spain.

• 2:23Speaker 02

  So the flight took off around 6:00 PM. It had been already delayed for mechanical reasons, so people are already feeling like, kind of antsy. Ryan Jones and his wife had woken up at 4:00 AM in Colorado, and they have two kids, ages six and eight. So they had already shepherded these kids through a very long day of travel.

• 2:45Speaker 06

  My wife and I are both in the travel business. We work together. Part of our business is focused on the island of Mallorca, coincidentally. So naturally, we were coming here to spend time both sort of enjoying ourselves as a family and also working.

• 3:01Speaker 02

  So they've already been in the air, they're well into this flight, when there start to be these strange announcements telling everyone to turn off their Bluetooth devices. And they escalate to the point where the captain's like, turn off your Bluetooth devices, or we're turning this plane around.

• 3:17Ben Brock Johnson?

  Whoa.

• 3:19Speaker 06

  So that was sort of my first reaction is, well, that doesn't make sense. What could it then be? And I didn't have an answer to that.

• 3:28Speaker 02

  Where do you turn to when you have a question about why something is happening?

• 3:32Ben Brock Johnson?

  The internet.

• 3:32Speaker 02

  The internet? More specifically?

• 3:35Amory Sivertson?

  Reddit.com.

• 3:37Speaker 02

  There we go. So Ryan goes to Reddit to find out what's going on. Eventually, at least nine other passengers, some of whom we will hear from, joined him on Reddit, as well as thousands of people around the world who ended up watching this flight in real time as the passengers on this plane, including Ryan, tried to figure out what the heck is going on. So the thread made it to the front page of Reddit. And as you might recall, a listener actually posted it on our subreddit because they thought that we might enjoy it. And they were correct. We, as well as all these other people who saw this thread, were hooked. It was as if the Reddit thread Ryan started was the latest

• 4:21Speaker 02

  HBO prestige drama, or a play.

• 4:26Amory Sivertson?

  Oh, we're going to the theater?

• 4:32Speaker 02

  I'm Grace Tatter.

• 4:33Ben Brock Johnson?

  I'm Ben Brock Johnson.

• 4:34Amory Sivertson?

  I'm Amory Sivertson.

• 4:36Ben Brock Johnson?

  And you're listening to Endless Threat.

• 4:38Amory Sivertson?

  Coming to you from WBUR, Boston's NPR red eye.

• 4:42Speaker 02

  And today's episode, yep, we're going to the theater. We've turned this into a play. UA Flight, Turn Bluetooth Off, or We're Turning Around. Starring our colleagues on the WBUR Podcast team as various Redditors.

• 4:58Ben Brock Johnson?

  Okay.

• 4:58Speaker 02

  As well as Ryan, AKA username Ryan underscore Room Service, as himself. And Jack, username Skyjacker, as himself. Cross-check and standby for all call.

• 5:20Speaker 06

  Currently on a flight, Newark to Palma, about an hour into the flight, the flight attendant announces on the loudspeaker that all passengers must turn off Bluetooth immediately, or will have to turn the plane around to Newark. They said it was an order from Chicago headquarters. They repeated the instruction multiple times, eventually giving a final one-minute warning. They most recently said there are still two active Bluetooth devices, and they are in communication with Chicago to understand next steps. Anyone ever heard of this, or any clue why?

• 5:49Amory Sivertson?

  This seems fake, since most of their aircraft now allow Bluetooth connections to in-flight entertainment, and it is not disabled by airplane mode.

• 5:57Speaker 06

  Literally. They're being super rude and tight-lipped, too. Many people getting up to check their bags and overhead to make sure Bluetooth is off, and getting scolded for violating the seatbelt sign.

• 6:08Ben Brock Johnson?

  Normally, it's because someone is airdropping inappropriate things to other passengers.

• 6:13Ben Brock Johnson?

  I don't think they would declare an emergency or turn back due to that, would they?

• 6:17Amory Sivertson?

  This flight just announced a 7,700 emergency on Flight Radar 24. What happened? Skull emoji.

• 6:28Speaker 01

  Just a wild guess here, but I suspect that there is a big security threat onboard, such as somebody who is on the no-fly list, and the FAs can't tip them off that they are getting arrested and are the reason for the diversion. So they make up this whole Bluetooth is a major problem, we need to turn around story as a cover, so as not to provoke a response onboard from the bad guy. At least, that's what I'd do. I mean, think about it. How can Bluetooth present any sort of major threat to an airplane? Hint: It can't.

• 7:01Ben Brock Johnson?

  Wow, I would hope OP posts a new update. Unless they also turned off Wi-Fi.

• 7:09Speaker 06

  Wi-Fi is back. We have turned around, and there's little clarity on what's going on. Flight attendants either don't know or won't say. The one announcement where they informed us we were turning around indicated an individual has done something with Bluetooth that is threatening to the safety of the flight. Lots of comments like, this little joke is ruining it for everyone. Odd. I think they said 10 agents will be awaiting us when we land to figure out whose device. No more info.

• 7:35Amory Sivertson?

  It's due to fly over my house soon, and it's at 20,000. I'm going to take a picture of it. I will post it. I'm sure it's not going to have, like, a flat tire or a bumper hanging off. Ha ha. But I just want to take a pic.

• 7:48Ben Brock Johnson?

  Anybody have a life here?

• 7:50Amory Sivertson?

  Not me. Not at 9:30 PM EST.

• 7:53Ben Brock Johnson?

  I absolutely do not.

• 7:55Amory Sivertson?

  In this economy?

• 8:00Ben Brock Johnson?

  I am monitoring the situation like a space mission. OMG, what's going on?

• 8:04Amory Sivertson?

  OP, don't leave us hanging.

• 8:06Speaker 06

  Have landed, and you all have far more information than we do. We are on tarmac and emergency vehicles approaching. This feels like watching American Idol, or whatever we all used to do as a collective, except low-key better. Just told to deplane and leave all devices and belongings on the plane, so see you later.

• 8:25Ben Brock Johnson?

  Also on this flight, from what I can glean, it appears the person had their Bluetooth on their phone turned off, but not their smartwatch. They had the Bluetooth device titled Bomb, causing the initial concern and forcing the turnaround. Currently on a bus, waiting to be let out. I should have prefaced by saying that it appears to be a complete accident, no imminent bomb threat. We have been let out of the buses and are preparing to reboard.

• 8:51Speaker 06

  Update: We've been issued a $15 meal credit. All is good again. United has returned back to being united.

• 9:00Speaker 01

  For the record, we have no less than three Redditors on this flight in this thread. Possibly more.

• 9:06Ben Brock Johnson?

  At least six.

• 9:07Amory Sivertson?

  10 Redditors boasting from this flight. One heck of a meet-cute.

• 9:11Ben Brock Johnson?

  I'm wondering if they can arrange for a group photo for us.

• 9:13Speaker 01

  This feels like the premise for a soon-to-be Netflix show.

• 9:17Ben Brock Johnson?

  Y'all should all hang out in Palma. Last edit: We are boarded now and will be departing at 2:30. Thanks for the laughs and concern, and pray we all get some sleep on this flight. LOL.

• 9:27Speaker 06

  Update: The Eagle has landed in Palma. More details after an Aperol Spritz and a nap.

• 9:40Speaker 02

  Okay, can I get a round of applause for thespians?

• 9:45Speaker 02

  Incredible.

• 9:48Speaker 02

  Well, after a brief intermission, we are going to get a behind-the-scenes look at the making of this drama, and what actually happened on this flight to Palma.

• 10:14Speaker 00

  Support for this podcast comes from Is Business Broken?, a podcast from the Marotra Institute at BU Questram School of Business. What gets lost when work stops looking like a nine to five job?

• 10:27Ben Brock Johnson?

  If I am not committing to be working with you exclusively at a particular point in time for a certain amount of time to do certain types of work, then you can't necessarily expect the employer on the other side to provide guarantees either.

• 10:40Speaker 00

  Follow Is Business Broken wherever you get your podcasts and stick around until the end of this podcast for a preview of a recent episode about the changing dynamics of the gig economy.

• 10:55Speaker 02

  Fall never arrives all at once. First the air, then the light, and slowly the things you love begin to find each other. A jacket meets a dress, a hoodie slips beneath a blazer, an old cap finds a new scarf. Because you don't simply step into the season, you create it layer by layer, until it finally feels like fall. Find fall your way at Ross.

• 11:23Ben Brock Johnson?

  Kayak searches and compares hundreds of travel sites, but unless I repeat the word kayak, Kayak thinks you won't remember that. So Kayak asked me to say kayak as many times as possible. Kayak. Kayak. Kayak. Kayak. Kayak. Kayak. Kai. Ooh. Ak. Kai, Kai, Kai, Kai, kayak. Kayak, kayak, kayak. Search, compare, and save on your trip. Kayak. Got that right.

• 11:53Speaker 02

  Okay, Ben and Amory, we're back. How was the show? What do you still want to know about this flight?

• 12:00Ben Brock Johnson?

  Something that jumped out to me is that, I guess if I were the flight deck crew, which I am not and never will be, I don't understand why they didn't just literally go down the aisles and say, pull out your device, I want to watch you turn off Bluetooth. Like, turning the plane around is a big, that's like a big decision.

• 12:20Speaker 02

  Very fair. Yeah, it's a huge thing to turn around a plane. Think about how much fuel that is. Like, think about how costly that is. They're already an hour and a half in. Yeah, what are you thinking, Amory?

• 12:30Amory Sivertson?

  Just how quickly things escalated. I mean, when you first said to turn off Bluetooth, we're turning this plane around, I don't think the seriousness of that hit me until the comments are escalating and you're like, oh, oh no, they're really turning the plane around. And I just think about how annoyed and difficult people are when there's a 10-minute delay on the tarmac. And for turning a whole plane around, at least what the play gets across, because it's a combination of Redditors who are kind of, you know, velling together, and then people on the ground who are concerned about them, the tone feels much more chill and good spirited than I think it probably actually felt on that plane.

• 13:13Ben Brock Johnson?

  Dad never makes an empty threat. I'll say that. So if Dad says, I'm turning this plane around, better get ready.

• 13:24Speaker 02

  Okay, so after a listener shared this thread on our subreddit, I started sending some DMs to the passengers on board to try to get some answers, including OP Ryan, who we already heard from, but also Jordan. She's a nurse practitioner from Little Rock, and she was flying to Palma with her best friend. Jordan is settling in when there is a commotion.

• 13:46Speaker 01

  Our wheels were not even off the ground yet, Grace.

• 13:49Speaker 02

  There's a couple sitting across the aisle from Jordan, and the woman is clearly alarmed.

• 13:54Speaker 01

  She's like rocking back and forth, like, at her husband. She's like tapping him. She's going, I'm freaking out, I'm freaking out. You have to tell them.

• 14:03Speaker 02

  Okay, so if you're Jordan, you hear a whole passenger acting like this, what's your response?

• 14:09Ben Brock Johnson?

  That would make me start freaking out.

• 14:12Speaker 02

  How about you, Amory?

• 14:12Amory Sivertson?

  Oh, yeah. No, I'm not. I want zero surprises on an airplane.

• 14:18Speaker 02

  Well, here's how Jordan felt.

• 14:20Speaker 01

  I look at my friend and I'm like, oh, no, no, no, no, no. We're going to Spain. Somebody get this girl a glass of wine, maybe a Xanax perhaps. Like, we're not doing this.

• 14:29Speaker 02

  So it sounds like Jordan has a different reaction.

• 14:31Ben Brock Johnson?

  Yeah, Jordan's like, she's committed.

• 14:35Speaker 02

  Yes.

• 14:36Ben Brock Johnson?

  Yeah.

• 14:36Speaker 02

  Okay, so, you know, boarding, complete, preparing for takeoff, you know the drill, seatbelt sign on, phone on airplane mode, this is all going on, when the man and the couple unbuckles his seatbelt and starts running down the aisle to get a flight attendant.

• 14:51Speaker 01

  And the flight attendant's going, sir, sit down, you're breaking FAA regulations. Like, you have to sit down, sit down right now. And the girl's going, no, no, no, no, you don't understand. Like, there's a Bluetooth network. And the flight attendant kind of cuts them off, and she's like, I don't care about a Bluetooth network. Like, we are taking this plane off and you just like broke a huge safety protocol.

• 15:13Speaker 02

  But the woman is insistent. She is not backing down.

• 15:16Speaker 01

  She's like, no, there is a Bluetooth network. It is titled BOMB, capital B-O-M-B. Like, you have to land this plane. We cannot be on here. And the flight attendant, again, just reiterates, like, I'm not worked up over a Bluetooth network. Like, we have a flight to take care of. You need to, like, stop.

• 15:35Speaker 02

  So at this point, the woman is not reassured by the flight attendant. She starts showing the other passengers her phone screen with the network on it, so including Jordan. So how do you feel? Someone's like, look, there's a Bluetooth network on here that says BOMB?

• 15:50Ben Brock Johnson?

  It's such a tough call. Like, on the one hand, I'm like, lady, could you not, like, make everybody else freak out? Like, can you chill? But the other part of me is like, well, maybe it's an issue.

• 16:01Amory Sivertson?

  I don't think I know enough about Bluetooth networks to know if this is a big deal. And also, some of my dear friends, their Wi-Fi network has been named virus download for the last, like, 15 years to try to dissuade people from joining their Wi-Fi for free. So I would sort of maybe assume that this was the same sort of thing going on?

• 16:22Speaker 02

  Well, Jordan, I don't think you'll be surprised to learn. Jordan remains totally unfazed.

• 16:29Speaker 01

  I took a little screenshot of it on my phone. I was like, this is weird. But also, again, if there's a bomb on the flight, they're not going to label it bomb. Like, this is somebody being stupid.

• 16:39Speaker 02

  So Jordan-

• 16:40Ben Brock Johnson?

  That's good logic.

• 16:41Speaker 02

  Yeah.

• 16:41Amory Sivertson?

  Yeah. It's like virus download.

• 16:43Speaker 02

  Right, yeah. Why would you point a red arrow at what you're doing? But Jordan sees the woman get more flight attendants involved. And at this point, they're more than an hour into the flight. And that's when the captain first makes an announcement telling people to turn off their Bluetooth devices.

• 17:00Speaker 01

  There ends up being only two remaining, and one of them was the bomb network. And then the other one was this sweet little old man. He said, well, I turned my phone on Bluetooth, or on airplane mode, so I sure thought that meant my Bluetooth was off. And so they get his network turned off, and the only one remaining is the bomb network.

• 17:23Speaker 02

  People sitting near Jordan know why the captain's making this announcement, but on other parts of the plane, they're confused, because like, you don't necessarily have like the Bluetooth range that far. So they can't see what Jordan can see.

• 17:35Ben Brock Johnson?

  Yep.

• 17:36Speaker 02

  Our OP Ryan has been on Wi-Fi doing work. And so after the second announcement telling everyone to turn off Bluetooth, he turns to ChatGPT.

• 17:47Speaker 06

  And it wasn't coming back with any good response. But it sort of worked through the logic of the potential of interference with a Bluetooth signal, but also concluded that doesn't really make sense.

• 17:59Speaker 02

  So this is when Ryan turns to Reddit. The travel company he and his wife run together is called Room Service, thus his username Ryan@RoomService.

• 18:08Speaker 06

  I thought I was just asking a question that would get, hopefully, a trickle of responses from a few aviation geeks. I know the Redditor type because I've been on it, I guess in some sense I am one myself.

• 18:20Speaker 02

  But Ryan quickly realizes that this thread is reaching far more people than the niche aviation geek community.

• 18:28Speaker 06

  Someone said something to the tune of, plane just squawked 7700, which of course was foreign to me at the time, with a little skull emoji next to it, dot, dot, dot, what is happening? And that's when I was like, what is happening? What does that mean? Now I'm a little bit nervous.

• 18:54Ben Brock Johnson?

  What's the 4011 on 7700?

• 18:56Speaker 02

  I was about to ask if you know what that means.

• 18:58Ben Brock Johnson?

  It's like a thread on the flight?

• 19:00Speaker 02

  It means emergency. Yeah.

• 19:02Amory Sivertson?

  Oh, no.

• 19:03Speaker 02

  So, yeah, so that's unsettling. So meanwhile, on another part of the plane, Jack, username Skyjacker, which he picked at random, not ever knowing that he would be participating-

• 19:15Ben Brock Johnson?

  Shockingly relevant.

• 19:17Speaker 06

  Yep.

• 19:19Speaker 02

  Hasn't got, he hasn't thought to get on Reddit yet. So he has no idea what's going on.

• 19:25Ben Brock Johnson?

  I thought it was strange, but, you know, but I was also, this is my first, you know, transatlantic, like, going to Europe flight, so I didn't know if that was par for the course or, or not.

• 19:34Speaker 02

  Then the captain gets on the intercom again.

• 19:36Ben Brock Johnson?

  He says something to the tune of, I hate to do this. And then very long pause, everybody's just like on the edge of their seat. What is coming after that statement?

• 19:46Amory Sivertson?

  But I'm taking the plane down.

• 19:48Ben Brock Johnson?

  Yeah, exactly. We're going to land on the water.

• 19:50Amory Sivertson?

  Nose dive.

• 19:51Ben Brock Johnson?

  Yeah.

• 19:51Speaker 02

  Yeah, my heart would be in my stomach. Ryan actually started to record this announcement that Jack is talking about, so we have some of the audio. It's going to be returning back to Newark at this time, unfortunately, because of one person who doesn't want to comply with the instructions, and because of the-

• 20:12Speaker 06

  The foolishness of this one person that wants to make a joke and it's not funny and it's, uh, it's compromising integrity to the safety of not only its crew, but all the other passengers.

• 20:32Ben Brock Johnson?

  It's such teacher vibes. It's such strong teacher vibes.

• 20:36Amory Sivertson?

  Yeah.

• 20:37Ben Brock Johnson?

  One person thinks it's funny. It's not funny. You know, like it just reminds me of school for some reason.

• 20:45Speaker 02

  1,000%. Okay. So finally the plane lands and it is surrounded by law enforcement. They like land a little bit away from the rest of the terminal. Um, there are pictures on Reddit. You can just see like all these cop cars surrounding the plane.

• 20:59Ben Brock Johnson?

  I would be kissing the ground as soon as I got off that plane.

• 21:03Amory Sivertson?

  Yeah. As soon as you got off and far away from it, because there could be a B O M B on board.

• 21:07Speaker 02

  Right. And they don't get off immediately. So they're sitting on the plane. Jack takes his phone off of airplane mode and Googles to see if there are any articles about what, what's going on, what's happening.

• 21:21Ben Brock Johnson?

  And there were no national like news articles or anything, but there was a Reddit thread.

• 21:26Speaker 02

  So that's when Jack gets on Reddit. Um, the passengers are told to keep all of their belongings on the plane, except for their phones and passports. And then they're finally let off the plane and they're loaded onto shuttle buses.

• 21:38Speaker 06

  We were sort of detained on shuttle buses for a long time. And another individual on Reddit that was on the airplane, uh, sent me a private or direct message and asked me what bus I was on. And we realized we're on the same buses, made eye contact and just sort of exchanged some, some like conversation. Um, but then only thereafter did I start to see others pop up in the Reddit thread who were like, hey, I'm on that plane too.

• 22:05Speaker 02

  So Ryan's on one bus with another redditor. Jack is on a different shuttle bus and he can see a law enforcement agent going from bus to bus.

• 22:14Ben Brock Johnson?

  Eventually he gets onto my bus and this US marshal goes, all right, nobody's going to be in trouble or anything, but does anybody have a Bluetooth device named Bomb? And that's where I was like, oh, you gotta be kidding me. Cause I was like, oh, this is, this is what all of this is about. If I, by the way, if my Reddit handle was Flight Jacker.

• 22:38Amory Sivertson?

  Sky Jacker.

• 22:38Ben Brock Johnson?

  I mean, sorry, Sky Jacker. I would be very concerned about the ensuing investigation, especially if there's only information on Reddit. I would be like erasing my history.

• 22:49Speaker 02

  Yeah. You would maybe not be posting on Reddit.

• 22:51Ben Brock Johnson?

  Yeah, exactly.

• 22:52Amory Sivertson?

  And I forgot up to this point that we, we knew that information, but a lot of people on the flight didn't know that this is all about a Bluetooth network called Bomb.

• 23:01Speaker 02

  Right. They still at this point had no idea unless you're like sitting on that part of the plane. So what do you do if you're on a bus with a bunch of other passengers who have been hugely delayed and rerouted, already up in the air, rerouted, hours off of their trip? Some sort of law enforcement officer comes on and asks us, anybody has a Bluetooth device named Bomb? And all of a sudden you remember that, oops, you do.

• 23:25Ben Brock Johnson?

  Oh, man. Oh, man. I, uh, I, what would I do? Furiously like take that off my phone as fast as possible.

• 23:41Amory Sivertson?

  Really? You wouldn't just own up to it?

• 23:43Ben Brock Johnson?

  I would own up to it. I would own up to it. But I would be so nervous. I would be like, oh my God, it was me. That would be terrifying. I, I'd be afraid of, of, um, you know, crowd justice, I think.

• 23:56Amory Sivertson?

  You just immediately get swallowed by.

• 23:58Ben Brock Johnson?

  Yeah, exactly. Pig pile. No, yeah. I guess if I was going to own up to it, I'd be like, how can I let folks know in the most subtle way possible that it was me? Like, should I wait until I get off the bus so I can, I can run if I need to run away from the crowd?

• 24:14Speaker 02

  Well, this is what happened.

• 24:16Ben Brock Johnson?

  This like 16 year old kid like raised his hand and was like, yeah, my, my smart watch is titled Bomb. And it was like a joke and I forgot about it and all that stuff.

• 24:26Amory Sivertson?

  Thank goodness he's a kid. That's all I'm saying. Cause otherwise, otherwise there would be a, there would be a pile on.

• 24:33Speaker 02

  Oh, yeah. No, I.

• 24:34Amory Sivertson?

  Or maybe there was still, I don't know, but like 16, you can be like, I'm stupid. I'm stupid. I'm a kid. I'm stupid.

• 24:40Speaker 02

  Right. And Jack isn't short. He was like, he looked really young. He also seemed to be traveling alone. So it's possible that he was older, but he did look young. I do wear a smart watch and I'll admit, I have forgotten to put it on airplane mode before because like, I just don't think about, like, I usually just use it to like check the time. So I forget.

• 24:55Ben Brock Johnson?

  Is your Bluetooth titled Missile?

• 24:58Speaker 02

  I think it's called Grace's Apple Watch. I think it's called Grace's Apple Watch. So yeah, pretty obvious. But Jack said that everyone on his bus was actually pretty civil. There was no booing the kid. And for the people on that bus, at least the mystery is solved. But other people like Ryan are still getting their information from Reddit. And now they're hearing some things that like some of the aviation geek redditors have heard tuning into air traffic control, which is something that you can do. There's just like always a live feed of air traffic control. Who knew? Um, so he at this point is like kind of piecing some things together from Reddit, but the airline itself never officially told the passengers what happened.

• 25:39Speaker 06

  There was never any sort of like, ever sort of any reflection on like, okay, here's what happened. Here's why it happened. Here's why we responded this way.

• 25:51Speaker 02

  We did reach out to United and they gave us a pretty basic, um, comment.

• 25:57Ben Brock Johnson?

  They gave us a $15 meal coupon.

• 26:01Speaker 02

  Alas. Endless Thread, we did not get a $15 voucher like these passengers.

• 26:06Amory Sivertson?

  Any extra pretzels?

• 26:09Speaker 02

  They just said that the plane safely returned to Newark after addressing a potential security concern. Um, I also reached out to law enforcement who gave me like a very similar statement.

• 26:22Speaker 02

  So eventually all of the other passengers, minus as far as we know, the kid with the Bomb smart watch are allowed back on the plane. They take off around 2:30 AM in Newark with a new crew. They're in their same seats. So Jordan sees the couple who alerted flight attendants about the Bomb network. And if you're Jordan, like, do you say anything to this couple now that you know that everything was fine?

• 26:44Ben Brock Johnson?

  Oh, man. I don't know.

• 26:46Amory Sivertson?

  Better safe than sorry. That's what I say.

• 26:50Ben Brock Johnson?

  It's true.

• 26:50Amory Sivertson?

  If you want us to keep saying something when we see something, we have, it is annoying. It is, it is unfortunate that, well, it is very fortunate that this was not a real

• 27:02Speaker 02

  Yeah.

• 27:02Amory Sivertson?

  threat, but I think you just have to chalk this up to, we're all just doing the best we can.

• 27:08Speaker 02

  Well, Jordan is just not, not dealing, as you can imagine, with the other couple. No hard feelings, no bad blood, but I was just like, I'm over it. I got on the plane, put my eye mask on, went to sleep. I didn't even wake up until there was like an hour left in the flight. And then finally, like nine hours after they were supposed to land, they arrive in Spain. Okay. Remember how a lot of people wanted the redditors to like find each other once they landed and become best friends forever? I feel like Ben, you would have like actually made that happen.

• 27:43Ben Brock Johnson?

  Yes, I definitely would have made that happen.

• 27:47Speaker 02

  Well, Ryan.

• 27:47Ben Brock Johnson?

  The Bomb Squad.

• 27:50Ben Brock Johnson?

  Definitely would have started.

• 27:51Speaker 02

  That would have been such a good name for a group chat. Ryan heard the people of Reddit's wishes and he wanted to make it happen.

• 27:59Speaker 06

  But I was like, I just don't have this in me right now. I think they wanted us all to get together in Mallorca and have like a party on the beach, become best friends for life.

• 28:09Speaker 02

  And the TV version, that can happen, but yeah.

• 28:13Speaker 06

  Yeah. We'll, we'll leave that for the, the TV drama.

• 28:19Ben Brock Johnson?

  So sad. So sad.

• 28:22Speaker 02

  Well, all's well that ends well because at least the three redditors who we talked to, Jordan, Jack and Ryan, had a wonderful time in Europe. And Ryan, who remember works in the travel industry, has a new pro tip for all of you travelers out there. If people do fit hit bizarre travel delays, um, do you recommend that they post to the airline subreddits?

• 28:44Speaker 06

  Yeah, it's a very responsive crowd.

• 28:51Speaker 02

  There you go.

• 28:52Ben Brock Johnson?

  Yeah. It is kind of amazing how like the aviation subreddits are very active.

• 28:58Speaker 02

  Yeah.

• 28:58Ben Brock Johnson?

  And so like, I, it's always fascinating to me to see, uh, the wisdom of a crowd in certain niches. And it's cool that that was on offer here.

• 29:21Ben Brock Johnson?

  Endless Thread is a production of WBUR in Boston. This episode was produced by the inimitable Grace Tatter and hosted by Grace, me, Ben Bra Johnson.

• 29:30Amory Sivertson?

  And me, Amory Sivertson. It was edited by Dave Shaw, whose Bluetooth headphones connect as justice and temperance. Just wanted you to know that. Mix and sound design by Emily Jankowski and our production manager, Paul Vikes.

• 29:43Ben Brock Johnson?

  The rest of our team is Dean Russell, Franny Monahan, and our senior managing producer, Sumita Joshi.

• 29:48Amory Sivertson?

  And special thanks to Dean, Sumita, Paul, Emily, and our colleagues, Kalyani Saxena and Chris Rigopoulos for lending their acting talents to this short theatrical production.

• 29:58Ben Brock Johnson?

  Endless Thread is a podcast about the blurred lines between online communities and real life vacation friends.

• 30:04Amory Sivertson?

  If you have an untold history, an unsolved mystery, or some other wild story from the internet that you want us to talk about, hit us up. Endless Thread at WBUR.org. Safe travels, everyone.

• 30:31Amory Sivertson?

  I need you guys to check my laptop. I don't even know if the Bluetooth, I truly, I don't know if the Bluetooth is on on my laptop or off. Like I could have been the person on this plane that caused us to turn the plane around because I wouldn't, I don't, I don't even turn my laptop off when I fly.

• 30:48Ben Brock Johnson?

  But you wouldn't be so scampy as to call it Bomb. I think you would have called it, like Grace, you would have been like, Emory's Bluetooth Computer or something.

• 30:59Amory Sivertson?

  I have no idea if my Bluetooth is on right now. That's all I'm saying. I could be the problem on a future flight. And if that happens, I'm so sorry in advance.

• 31:14Speaker 00

  Support for this podcast comes from Is Business Broken? A podcast from the Marotra Institute at BU Questram School of Business. Follow Is Business Broken wherever you get your podcasts and listen on for a preview of a recent episode featuring Brandeis University Professor David Weil on a question at the heart of the gig economy. When an app controls how you work, is it really just a platform or is it your employer?

• 31:40Ben Brock Johnson?

  It is very true that the platforms allow, let's say, drivers to find riders much more easily in a way that would be impossible absent the Uber or Lyft technology. Yes, the technology is connecting people, but the technology is also doing all the kinds of things that we usually associate with management. Setting the rate of pay, setting the pace of work, deciding on who gets the job and who doesn't, monitoring the performance of that party. There's a lot that these technologies do that are all about what we would call management.

• 32:21Speaker 00

  Find the full episode by searching for Is Business Broken wherever you get your podcasts and learn more about the Marotra Institute for Business, Markets and Society at ibms.bu.edu.

• 32:38Speaker 01

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• 33:06Speaker 01

  At Edward Jones, we believe rich is about taking care of what gives your life meaning. That's why your financial advisor personalizes your plan to help you preserve your progress and create something that lasts. Let's find your rich. Edward Jones. Member SIPC.