The Aporia · United Airlines flight returns to Las Vegas after flight attendant finds passenger texting about 'hijacking'; 150 passengers stranded overnight

United Airlines flight returns to Las Vegas after flight attendant finds passenger texting about 'hijacking'; 150 passengers stranded overnight

Read the original at Times of India ↗

Cite

APA MLA Chicago

Ghosh, P. (2026, October 26). United Airlines flight returns to Las Vegas after flight attendant finds passenger texting about 'hijacking'; 150 passengers stranded overnight. Times of India. https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/world/us/united-airlines-flight-returns-to-las-vegas-after-flight-attendant-finds-passenger-texting-about-hijacking-150-passengers-stranded-overnight/articleshow/135215566.cms

Dated from the outlet's own feed. Check the original for its byline.

Quick Summary

On Saturday night, October 24, United Airlines Flight 1681 returned to Las Vegas after a flight attendant noticed a passenger texting about hijacking the plane. The Boeing 737 carried 150 passengers and six crew members; no injuries were reported. Law enforcement met the aircraft upon landing, and the FAA announced an investigation into the incident. Passengers were stranded overnight due to the crew reaching their working-hour limit, with a replacement flight departing early Sunday morning, arriving in Newark more than eight hours behind schedule.

Written by AI on 2026-10-26, from this article's own text only (the story summary below draws on all the coverage).

AI analysis

Story summary

On October 24, 2026, United Airlines Flight 1681, a Boeing 737 carrying 150 passengers and six crew members from Harry Reid International Airport in Las Vegas to Newark Liberty International Airport, was forced to return to Las Vegas after a flight attendant noticed a passenger texting about hijacking the plane. The pilot secured the cockpit, and law enforcement met the aircraft upon landing at approximately 11:05 p.m. local time. The passenger, identified as Dante Milne (25), told investigators he had been drinking and described the message as poorly worded banter with a coworker, claiming no intention to harm anyone. Despite this, Milne was arrested and charged with making threats or conveying false information regarding an act of terrorism. His lawyer plans to plead not guilty.

Written for “United Flight Hijack Threat Investigation” on 2026-10-30, grounded in this article and the 5 other(s) covering the same event.

Compared with similar articles

How this article was measured signals, leaning charts, publisher record, byline, topics and claims

Signals How these are calculated →

Claims extracted

sentences that state something as happening or true

Uncertain

40%

6 of 15 hedged ("reportedly", "may", "according to")

Leaning

not political

takes no side on a contested political question

Publisher signals

59/100

Times of India's corrections and hedging, across everything collected from it. Not a measure of accuracy.

Outlets on this story

Crime & Law

Same framing elsewhere

articles that frame the event the way this one does

Analyzed 2026-10-26 · how these are computed

How this is being covered How these are calculated →

Article leaning vs. publisher reliability

Source leaning vs. consistency

Publisher

Times of India · 3707 article(s) · 2 correction(s) detected

Running correction rate · 2 correction(s)

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Who wrote this

Poulomi Ghosh

82 article(s) here · 1 carrying a prediction

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🔮 The Federal Aviation Administration said the flight returned safely and that it would investigate the incident.

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Nothing else under this byline is closely related to this article, so these are simply their most recent.

All 82 articles by Poulomi Ghosh →

Topics

Flight 1681 Las Vegas New Jersey United United Airlines

Subjects

Las Vegas GPE · 6× United ORG · 2× United Airlines ORG · 2× Boeing ORG · 1× New Jersey GPE · 1× Newark GPE · 1× The Federal Aviation Administration ORG · 1× USA Today ORG · 1× the Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department ORG · 1×

Narrative

United Flight 1681, travelling from Harry Reid International Airport in Las Vegas to Newark Liberty International Airport, returned safely on Saturday night, October 24, following what the airline described as a “potential security concern”.

framing: mixed · carried by 1 article(s) · first seen 2026-10-26

🔮 The Federal Aviation Administration said the flight returned safely and that it would investigate the incident.

2026-10-26 · Times of India

United Airlines flight returns to Las Vegas after flight attendant finds passenger texting about 'hijacking'; 150 passengers stranded overnight · mixed framing

Claims (15 extracted, 6 hedged)

A United Airlines flight bound for New Jersey returned to Las Vegas after a flight attendant reportedly spotted a passenger texting about hijacking the aircraft, prompting the crew to secure the cockpit and alert air traffic control. uncertain

passenger → bind → control

airline → travel → concern

The Boeing 737 was carrying 150 passengers and six crew members. asserted

Boeing → carry → passengers

No injuries were reported, according to reports. uncertain

injuries → report → reports

According to air traffic control audio cited in reports, a flight attendant noticed a passenger sending a message about hijacking the plane and alerted the captain. uncertain

passenger → accord → captain

The crew then secured the cockpit and decided to return to Las Vegas. asserted

crew → secure → Vegas

“The flight attendant saw him texting that he was going to hijack the aircraft,” the pilot reportedly told air traffic control. uncertain

pilot → see → control

The passenger was reportedly unaware that the crew had seen the message. uncertain

crew → see → message

Law enforcement officers met the aircraft after it landed in Las Vegas. asserted

it → meet → Vegas

The Federal Aviation Administration said the flight returned safely and that it would investigate the incident. asserted

it → say → incident

The Las Vegas airport referred questions to United Airlines and the Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department. asserted

airport → refer → Airlines

The incident disrupted travel plans for passengers, who were delayed overnight after the aircraft returned to Las Vegas. asserted

aircraft → disrupt → Vegas

United said the flight was delayed because the crew had reached its permitted working-hour limit. asserted

crew → say → limit

A replacement flight departed on Sunday morning, October 25, and reached Newark more than eight hours later than originally scheduled, according to USA Today. uncertain

flight → depart → Today

The airline did not publicly disclose further details about the passenger or the outcome of the investigation in the reports available. asserted

airline → disclose → reports