'Turn Bluetooth off, or we're turning around.'

'Turn Bluetooth off, or we're turning around.'

The 190 passengers of a United Airlines flight from Newark, New Jersey to Palma de Mallorca, Spain had settled into their seats for their overnight flight when the captain gave an announcement: everyone had to turn off their Bluetooth devices — or he was going to turn around the plane. This confounded passengers, because Bluetooth is safe for airplanes. It stays enabled when devices are on airplane mode. United even encourages using Bluetooth headphones to connect to in-flight entertainment.

What was going on? The flight crew couldn't say. So the passengers took to...where else? Reddit.

Show notes:

    • UA flight - 'turn bluetooth off or we're turning around' (Reddit)
This episode was reported and produced by Grace Tatter, and co-hosted by Grace Tatter, Amory Sivertson and Ben Brock Johnson. It was edited by Dave Shaw. Mix and sound design by Emily Jankowski and Paul Vaitkus.

Tämä jakso on lisätty Podme-palveluun avoimen RSS-syötteen kautta eikä se ole Podmen omaa tuotantoa. Siksi jakso saattaa sisältää mainontaa.

Jaksot(471)

Mixed signals: Nextdoor villains and the holiday you've never heard of

Mixed signals: Nextdoor villains and the holiday you've never heard of

The internet is the great connector. Talk with nearly anyone at any time about anything. But that kind of freedom can lead to misunderstandings. Maybe your neighbors discover your cruder, less friendl...

2 Loka 25min

The Haruhi problem

The Haruhi problem

Get out your graphing calculators, because today's episode of Endless Thread is about a math problem. Specifically: wt(π1, . . . , πm) = m−1 ∑ i=1 wt(πi , πi+1) Now, pencils down. Stumped? So were m...

25 Syys 16min

Keeping the Lights on at a Video Game Cafe in Southern Yemen

Keeping the Lights on at a Video Game Cafe in Southern Yemen

Mo lives in Aden, an ancient city in southern Yemen. Built on a volcanic crater, it has castles and beaches set against mountains. It's beautiful. Like the rest of the country, it is also in the midst...

18 Syys 33min

Ear rumblers assemble!

Ear rumblers assemble!

Ben can make a roaring, rumbling sound with his ears that no one else can hear. He never thought much about it — whether only he could do this, or whether everyone could do this — until he discovered ...

11 Syys 28min

Encore: Owl pursuits

Encore: Owl pursuits

This episode was originally published on March 10, 2023.  In 2022, freshmen at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill got a new neighbor: an owl. What wasn't clear was whether the owl was try...

4 Syys 24min

Emily Kwong takes us to science camp

Emily Kwong takes us to science camp

Grab your telescopes because this week on Endless Thread Ben and NPR Short Wave host Emily Kwong take us down two science-related internet wormholes. First, Emily introduces us to the intergalactic wo...

28 Elo 25min

Fruit of the Loom: Horn of Lies

Fruit of the Loom: Horn of Lies

The brand Fruit of the Loom is almost ubiquitous in the world of underwear and casual wear. You have likely seen its logo, if not on your own body, on store racks or at least in ads. Now, in your mind...

14 Elo 44min