A United Airlines flight bound for Newark was forced to turn around and enter an immediate security lockdown after a passenger allegedly sent explicit messages threatening to hijack the aircraft and carry out a terrorist act.
A criminal complaint alleges that 25-year-old Dante Milne used his phone to write that he was “gonna hijack this” plane—along with an expletive—and threatened to “crash ur row only.”
The court filing does not identify the platform used to send the messages or reveal who received them.
Milne was taken into custody and booked at the Clark County Detention Center in Las Vegas on a felony allegation involving threats or false information connected to an act of terrorism.
Court documents indicate that Milne later posted a $10,000 bond. He was released while awaiting a court hearing scheduled for Tuesday.
The alarming incident occurred Saturday night on United Airlines Flight 1681, which was carrying 150 passengers and six crew members from Harry Reid International Airport in Las Vegas to Newark Liberty International Airport. The aircraft was a Boeing 737.
Not long after departure, a flight attendant reportedly saw Milne typing messages that referred to taking control of the plane. Following established aviation security procedures, the crew member alerted the cockpit instead of confronting him directly.
The pilots then secured the flight deck and placed the aircraft under lockdown procedures.
MORE STORY: Undocumented Man Admits Fake Kidnapping Plot Against Border Patrol
Audio from air traffic control captured the captain explaining the threat as the crew turned the plane around and headed back to Las Vegas.
“The flight attendant saw him texting that he was going to hijack the aircraft. They called me. We went into lockdown, and we returned to Vegas,” the captain told controllers.
When controllers asked whether cabin crew had restrained the passenger, the captain said they had not. Milne apparently did not realize that the messages had been noticed by the crew.
Flight-tracking records show the Boeing 737 remained in the air for under an hour before landing safely at Harry Reid International Airport at about 11:05 p.m. local time.
Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department officers were waiting on the tarmac and arrested Milne without incident. Passengers were removed from the plane while officers carried out a thorough security sweep. No injuries were reported.
The diversion pushed the crew beyond federally permitted duty limits, leaving the other 149 passengers stranded in Las Vegas overnight. They continued to Newark on a replacement flight Sunday morning.
Nevada law provides a possible prison sentence of one to 20 years for a felony conviction involving threats or false information about an act of terrorism.
The Federal Aviation Administration said it is investigating the episode. The agency also reported that more than 1,400 incidents involving unruly passengers have been recorded on commercial flights in 2026.
