A pilot refused to fly a packed passenger plane after somebody on board had their personal wifi name set to Jihadist Cell London 1 – just hours after the Manchester terror attack.
An alarm was raised after a tourist spotted the wifi hotspot title as he boarded the Gatwick-bound Thomson plane which was getting ready to take off from Cancun, Mexico.
The tourist, a recruitment firm boss from High Wycombe, immediately alerted cabin crew, who launched a probe, according to the Sun.
After none of the passengers took responsibility for the wifi name, the pilot called the police – resulting in a two-and-a-half-hour delay while officers boarded the plane and inspected passengers’ mobiles.
As word spread throughout the cabin some passengers began to get distressed and reportedly asked to get off the plane.
Security officials failed to find the culprit and the flight was then cancelled and all passengers were sent back to a hotel for another night.
One holidaymaker spoke of the terror among the passengers – who were all waiting to board another plane home knowing the flyer with the jihad phone was among them.
The passenger, who alerted staff on Flight TOM039, told the Sun:
As I sat in my seat I noticed one of the options for wifi connection on my phone relating to being a jihadist. I accosted a member of cabin crew, who took my phone up to the cockpit.
I was moved to the front of the plane but by this time whispers were spreading through the plane about it.
The passenger, who asked not be named, said initially the pilot announced a delay of 40 minutes because of ‘lax ground staff.’
