If you were looking for a place to connect to Wi-Fi and saw a hot spot called “Mobile Detonation Device,” how would you feel? Freaked? Well, that’s the justified reaction a woman had when she checked for a wireless connection on a plane about to take off from Melbourne, Australia, this weekend, according to a report in The West Australian.
When the passenger saw the Wi-Fi access point name she alerted the crew. That’s when the flight’s plans changed. First, according to passenger John Vidler, the captain announced a delay. “He said there was a device on the plane that had a name on it that he found threatening and that we were not leaving until that device was brought to him,” according Vidler. Then they waited for someone to come forward while the crew and security personnel searched the plane.
When no device was located or brought forth, security and Quantas cleared the plane for take off, and the flight eventually landed in Perth two hours behind its originally scheduled arrival time. According to Vidler, he and 40 others decided they were not taking that flight and deplaned.
There was no mention of authorities demanding to see and inspect every hot-spot-capable device among passengers and crew. The device could have been on or off the plane.
Assigning one’s phone, tablet, or portable computer with such an ominous name, particularly on a device set up to be found and accessed by others, is of questionable taste. Like on the “What were you thinking?” level.
Carrying that device to an airport, let alone possibly on a plane with the hot spot enabled, is unquestionably stupid, potentially dangerous, and, in this case, capable of disrupting the day for a lot of people. It’s just a shame the prankster was able to get away without discovery.
