I’m sorry, however I simply discover this to be completely ridiculous (because of View from the Wing for flagging this)….
American flight returns to San Juan over “RIP” check
On Thursday, July 3, 2025, American flight AA1847 was scheduled to fly from San Juan (SJU) to Dallas (DFW). The flight was operated by an Airbus A321 with the license plate N902AA, with 193 individuals onboard.
The aircraft took off at 6:26AM, and flew for just a little over 10 minutes, climbing to simply over 16,000 ft. Nevertheless, at that time, the aircraft rotated, and diverted again to San Juan. It landed there safely simply over half-hour after departure, at 6:58AM.
Whereas flights return to their origin on a regular basis, the reason for this incident was something however unusual. Because it seems, the aircraft diverted as a result of a passenger noticed one other traveler obtain a textual content message saying “RIP” (relaxation in peace), and interpreted that as a menace to her flight. So she reported that to the flight attendant, and it was in the end interpreted as a bomb menace, inflicting the diversion.
As soon as the aircraft was again on the bottom, airport safety personnel and the TSA boarded the plane, to examine it and interview passengers. The passenger who acquired the “RIP” textual content message was in a position to show {that a} relative had died the day earlier than, and that’s why he was taking the journey.
An airport official clarified that “it was a mix-up that was dealt with in accordance with security protocols,” and that “there was no actual menace to the flight or its passengers.” The flight ended up departing once more at 9:40AM, slightly below 3.5 hours delayed.
Who’s at fault for this absurd diversion?
Maybe hindsight is 20/20, however I believe we are able to all agree {that a} diversion over a easy textual content message containing the time period “RIP” is ridiculous. However who is absolutely at fault for this diversion?
In fact there’s the snooping passenger, who determined to report this within the first place, and set off this complete chain of occasions. We at all times hear the motto “should you see one thing, say one thing,” although all too usually, that’s utilized by clueless individuals to easily make claims reflecting their very own biases.
I’d argue that the get together actually at fault for this diversion is the crew, for taking this severely. I ponder, did the “involved” passenger actually simply share what she noticed? Did she inform the flight attendants “hey, I noticed somebody texting the time period ‘RIP,’ I believe they will need to have a bomb?” After which the flight attendant was like “yeah, wow, that’s actually regarding, let me name the captain, we have to divert instantly?”
I believe this additionally displays the “higher secure than sorry” strategy that so many airline crews take. They’ll by no means get in hassle for erring on the aspect of warning, but when they ignore one thing that finally ends up changing into a difficulty, that’s extra of an issue for them.
What actually amazes me is how shortly all of this occurred. The aircraft began turning again towards San Juan simply 11 minutes after takeoff. So throughout that brief, vital section of the flight, the passenger seen the textual content message, alerted the flight attendants, the flight attendants alerted the pilots, and the pilots made the choice to return to San Juan? That’s all very quick.
Hopefully one of many ATC YouTube channels can add a video concerning the communication, as I’m curious what the pilots instructed authorities.
Backside line
An American flight returned to San Juan simply over half-hour after takeoff, for a weird motive. A passenger was snooping on the texts of a fellow passenger, and noticed them obtain an “RIP” textual content. By some means that ended up being interpreted as a bomb menace, inflicting the flight to divert. I merely haven’t any phrases. I’m undecided if it’s worse that the passenger reported this, or that the crew acted on it…
What do you make of this American diversion?
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