Text Message Referencing a ‘Hijack’ Forces United Flight to Return to Vegas

A United Airlines flight bound for New Jersey on Saturday was forced to return to Las Vegas after a passenger sent a text to a co-worker about hijacking the plane, according to the police.

A flight attendant on the plane, United Airlines Flight 1681, told the police that she noticed a text message exchange between two passengers during the boarding process at Harry Reid International Airport, according to an arrest report. The attendant said the messages contained derogatory comments and racial slurs about people on board.

Five minutes later, the attendant said, she saw a message beginning, “I’m gonna hijack,” the report said. The Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department later determined that Dante Milne, 25, of New Jersey, texted a fellow passenger, a co-worker, that he was “gonna hijack” the plane and “crash ur row only.”

The crew member alerted the lead flight attendant, flagging the message as a potential security threat. The crew waited to notify the captain until the aircraft passed 10,000 feet, which the police report stated was “consistent with the sterile flight deck procedures.”

Neither the police department nor United Airlines responded to questions about how the flight attendant was able to notice details about the texts and connect the messages between the passengers, who were seated several rows apart: Mr. Milne in Seat 10C, and his co-worker in Seat 37D.

The flight was rerouted back to the Las Vegas airport, where local police officers boarded the plane and took the two passengers into custody. The police charged Mr. Milne with making threats or conveying false information about an act of terrorism, a Category B felony in Nevada. The other passenger was released because he only received the text, the police said.

Mr. Milne told the police that the message was poorly worded banter between co-workers. He explained that he was in town for an underwater welding apprenticeship and had taken shots at the airport bar before the flight. He denied that he intended to harm anyone, the report said.

If he’s found guilty, Mr. Milne could face a minimum of two years in prison and a $5,000 fine. (In cases with aggravating factors, the prison term can be up to 20 years.) James Gallo, his lawyer, did not respond to a request for comment.

The flight was eventually delayed overnight because the crew timed out, and departed for Newark on Sunday morning, United confirmed in a statement. Mr. Milne was booked into the Clark County Detention Center and later released after posting a $10,000 bond.