United Flight 236 left Newark Liberty International Airport around 6 p.m. Saturday, May 30, bound for Palma de Mallorca, Spain, before turning around midflight, according to multiple reports.
The Boeing 767 landed back at Newark at 9:37 p.m., according to ABC News.
The airline said 190 passengers and 12 crew members were onboard.
The security concern involved a Bluetooth device name, according to air traffic control audio cited by NPR. Security personnel were sent to inspect the aircraft after someone named a Bluetooth device a threatening four-letter word, NPR reported.
NPR reported that passenger posts from the flight indicated crew members asked travelers to turn off Bluetooth devices after the issue surfaced.
The flight turned around after the crew communicated with United’s headquarters in Chicago, ABC News reported.
Passengers had to evacuate after the aircraft returned to Newark. Port Authority police swept the plane, and travelers were rescreened by TSA and Customs and Border Protection before reboarding, according to ABC News.
Passengers later boarded a replacement flight with a new crew. That flight took off early Sunday, May 31, and landed in Palma de Mallorca in the afternoon.
No injuries were reported.
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