Passenger claims as 'hijacking' text which grounded plane was 'just banter'

A United Airlines passenger accused of causing an in-flight U-turn due to a supposed hijacking threat says he was drunk and “joking” and that the texts were misunderstood. Dante Milne, 25, a trainee welder, was arrested Saturday, according to a reported criminal complaint, after a message allegedly said: “I'm gonna hijack … and crash ur row only”. The text was sent aboard United Flight 1681 from Las Vegas to Newark, and a flight attendant noticed the threat-related messages, alerting the pilot, who later said they entered lockdown and returned to Las Vegas. The aircraft arrived back around 11:05 p.m. local time on Oct. 24 and underwent a comprehensive inspection.