Call of Duty Chat Sparks Bomb Scare on Frontier Flight, Then Police Discover It's Just a Game

A Frontier Airlines flight at Ontario International Airport was subjected to an explosives search after a passenger reported hearing a reference to a bomb shortly before 10pm local time on Sunday, 8 November.

Police and a bomb squad, along with the Ontario Fire Department, searched the aircraft and surrounding area as a precaution while authorities cleared part of Terminal 2. The passenger data indicates a partial evacuation of the terminal and a hold on flights during the investigation.

Investigators traced the overheard remark to a FaceTime conversation about the video game Call of Duty, in which a character was eliminated by an explosion from a C4 charge. The remark was linked to a discussion in that online game rather than an actual device on board.

Officers detained a man who had made the remark for questioning; he had a backpack but no other luggage, according to police spokesperson Denyse Quezada. An explosives-detection team cleared the aircraft and nearby areas, and no device was found.

Passengers were allowed to return to the aircraft after the search, and operations began to resume once the investigation concluded. Details such as the flight’s destination, departure time, flight number, and the duration of the hold were not disclosed in the available information.