Pilot's Misunderstood Greeting Prompts Panic, Anger

To reverse an old saying, "Even people with real enemies can still be paranoid." The hair-trigger security environment which now characterizes airline travel may have a few people on edge. On Southwest Flight 155 from Baltimore to Long Island Friday, a friendly acknowledgment by the pilot over the PA system of the birthday of a "mom on board" was misheard by some passengers as "bomb on board," causing a brief panic.

USA Today cites a report by the Associated Press in relating that even after flight attendants explained what had actually been said, and the pilot himself came back on the PA to clarify the statement, "two passengers were disgruntled enough to complain to security officials."

This has become a big enough deal that both the airline and the FAA have felt the need to issue public statements. The Long Island Press report a Southwest spokeswoman explained, "The pilot made an announcement that was misunderstood" after an air traffic controller working out of Terminal Radar Approach in Westbury contacted the pilot and had asked him to “wish his mother a happy birthday." The airline says the pilot did report the incident through the appropriate channels.

The FAA statement added, "Pilots and controllers will sometimes engage in brief greetings. If such conversations go beyond this limit, controllers are counseled to refrain from such unnecessary talk." The agency says it is reviewing the ATC communications, but not investigating the pilot or the airline.

FMI: www.southwest.com