Passengers aboard a Qantas flight in Australia got the ride of their life. Unfortunately, the flight did not even take off from the tarmac before they felt the tension inside the aircraft.
The cause of concern was a rogue Wi-Fi hotspot eerily named "Mobile Detonation Device" while the QF481 flight bound for Perth and initially scheduled to leave at 6:50 p.m. on Monday night was on the ground at the Melbourne airport. The situation left the flight stranded for three hours before gaining clearance to take off.
According to a report by The West Australian, a concerned passenger on the flight took note of the said hotspot name and notified a crew member. The said crew member then alerted the captain, who addressed the rest of the passengers onboard.
In another version of the story told through Yahoo! 7, an anonymous female passenger on vacation from Tasmania said that the scare stemmed from the in-flight entertainment Wi-Fi network.
"The pilot said a particular passenger had gone to log on and a hotspot name has come up with one which was a scare to Qantas and passengers," said the anonymous passenger. "The pilot made us aware and said they were going to take proper security precautions".
Despite calls by the pilot for the "prankster" to come forward, no one in the airplane stepped forward to own up to the tasteless joke that sowed fear in the cabin. The airline company then summoned the help of the Australian Federal Police for assistance.
With the situation making their flying experience uncomfortable, it eventually resulted in multiple passengers asking to be removed from the flight. This turned into a nightmare for the crew, as checked-in baggage had to be unloaded and caused extra delays.
Eventually, the flight was given clearance by authorities and arrived at Perth at around 11:15 p.m.
A representative from Qantas confirmed to Mashable Australia that the incident did happen and that the plane was eventually cleared from any danger. The flight's crew and a security team searched the plane and found no safety or security risk to the aircraft, allowing for it to fly on as planned.
