Flight evacuated after guy accidentally airdrops picture of toy gun to passengers

How would you feel if you’re ready to take off on a flight and you suddenly receive a picture of a weapon? Well, we surely would freak out.

This is what happened to the passengers of a United Airlines flight from San Francisco to Orlando who were preparing to take off but right before that, they received a picture of a gun on their phones.

According to a report by Business Insider, the flight was preparing to leave the gate at San Francisco International Airport when the passengers received the photo of the toy gun via Apple’s AirDrop feature, according to an airport spokesperson.

After several passengers complained about the gun photo, the pilot announced a ‘threat on board’. Soon, the passengers were deboarded and rescreened ‘out of an abundance of caution’.

The teenager didn’t have the airsoft gun with him on the flight. He only had a photo of it, which he had taken at an earlier date, the spokesperson said.

A thorough inspection was carried out before passengers were allowed to board the plane again.

An airsoft gun is a replica of a real handgun, that shoots small and spherical bullets at low power. While the guns can be of any type of form and may look like a real ones, it is not dangerous to cause serious injuries. But if used on a sensitive body part like eyes and ears, it can cause damage.