United Airlines passenger whose texts forced plane to turn around provides explanation for worrying messages

A 25-year-old man who was arrested for sharing a text saying he was going to 'hijack' and 'crash' a plane while on a United Airlines flight has explained why he sent the message.

Earlier this week, a United Airlines jet left Harry Reid International Airport around 11.00pm as planned. The aircraft – which was carrying 150 passengers and six crew members – was headed for Newark, New Jersey, but never made it to its final destination because a flight attendant raised the alarm after seeing a concerning text on a passenger's phone.

That passenger was Dante Milne. His text message read: "I'm gonna hijack this [expletive] and crash ur row only."

Milne was arrested on October 25 and charged with making a threat or false information regarding an act of terrorism. His bail had been set at $20,000, according to Fox 5 Vegas.

Apparently, he had been in Las Vegas for a three-day apprenticeship training program for his work as an underwater welder. He drank beer and had some shots before boarding the plane and intended to sleep on the plane, but woke up to learn the flight had turned around to head back to Vegas.

An audio recording obtained by ATC.com could be heard of the pilot stating that the then-suspect didn't know 'anything was going on'.

The pilot also said: "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."

Per Milne's arrest report, he sent the text about supposedly hijacking the plane as 'banter' to his co-worker who had been sitting on row 37, while Milne was on row 10.

He denied intending to actually hijack the plane or cause any harm to anyone. Apparently, the 25-year-old has 'acknowledged the seriousness of the aircraft returning to Las Vegas and expressed remorse'.

Milne was being held at Clark County Detention Centre and has since been released on a $20,000 bail.

The New Jersey man is next due in court on January 5. Fox 5 reports that his attorney told a judge Tuesday morning that they plan to plead not guilty to the charges he's facing.

The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) are said to be investigating the incident as well.

A United Airlines flight faced a similar scare back in June. The Palma De Mallorca-bound flight had to turn round mid-Atlantic after a Bluetooth speaker with a very unfortunate name was showing up on the cabin's device list.

Reportedly, the device was called 'BOMB'.

It's unclear if the person responsible for the debacle has been identified.