Despite it being one of the safest ways to travel, flying in an airplane is cause for stress and anxiety for a lot of travelers. Plane crashes don't happen often, which is why they're all the more tragic when they do.
They're also the last thing you want to be thinking about when you're in an airplane, whether your flight's already taken off, or it's about to.
A Turkish flight scheduled to travel from Israel to Istanbul on Tuesday aborted plans after several passengers reported having frightening images shared to their phones, just as the plane was preparing to leave the tarmac.
AirDrop is a service that allows iPhone users to send images to one another wirelessly. Upon getting a request, users can decide whether or not to accept, meaning that not every passenger was sent the images.
One image showed the wreckage of a 2009 Turkish flight that crashed into Amsterdam, killing nine passengers.
A second image showed wreckage of a 2013 flight that crashed in San Francisco, killing three passengers.
The plane, which was scheduled to fly out of Israel's Ben Gurion Airport, had no less than 160 passengers on board. When the pilot was made aware of the situation, he decided to allow airport security to investigate.
"Most people received a request for a photo confirmation in AirDrop, some approved and some did not," they said.
"The plane stopped and the flight attendants asked who got the pictures."
"They took all our luggage out of the plane for a second check," the passenger continued.
Ultimately, the flight was delayed for five hours while authorities investigated, but did end up being cleared for takeoff later that day.
Speaking to a local newspaper, the passenger stated that at least one passenger had a panic attack. Another passenger was allegedly hospitalized after falling during the panic to leave the plane.
Global News reports that a spokesperson from the airport's security ruled out the possibility of a cyber attack, believing that whoever sent the disturbing images was a passenger on the plane.
It had been reported that several young Israelis were identified as suspects and taken into questioning before the flight was cleared. Motives for sending the images to passengers is currently unknown.
During the initial investigation, the airport security spokesperson said, "All steps taken are in cooperation and coordination with the flight captain who has shown great responsibility in the decision to return the aircraft to the terminal."
h/t: Global News
