United Airlines has been no stranger to PR disasters in recent years, but unfortunately, this devastating new development takes the cake: The beleaguered air carrier has apologized to a passenger after the bomb in his suitcase was destroyed mid-flight.
Jesus Christ, United Airlines. Can you maybe just not royally fuck something up for, like, two seconds?
Bradley Horne was flying from the U.K. to Washington, D.C. on what should have been an otherwise easy airplane trip. But when he boarded the plane with a briefcase containing an improvised explosive device, a flight attendant took the bag from him and carelessly stowed it in a crammed overhead bin. Just 20 minutes into the flight during some turbulence, the bomb in the overloaded compartment exploded to the point that it was completely unrecognizable, and unusable to boot.
United, we’re willing to let a few missteps slide, but passengers shouldn’t be walking onto planes with their bombs intact and walking off with them blown to smithereens. You’re going to have to win our trust back after this one.
To its credit, United was quick to offer an apology to Horne over social media after the flight landed. “We accept total responsibility for this unfortunate accident, and we are deeply sorry for the pain and stress that the loss of this improvised explosive device caused Mr. Horne,” said Sharon Regan, a spokesperson for the airline. “Nothing would make us happier than if he had been able to land in DC with his bomb intact, but unfortunately, accidents happen, and all we can do is work hard to be more careful with the bombs that customers bring onto our planes in the future.”
Wow. We’re impressed that United apologized, but this kind of snafu is totally unacceptable for a commercial airline. It’s going to be a while before anyone feels safe bringing a bomb onto a United flight.
