Frontier plane evacuated after game mistaken for bomb

An emergency evacuation was ordered Sunday evening after a passenger on a Frontier Airlines flight overheard a suspicious conversation.

A passenger on the Inland Empire Ontario International Airport plane, which was about to take off, heard someone say that “he had a bomb in his backpack.”

After the flight crew was informed, the Ontario Police Service responded to the scene around 10 p.m.

“Officers located and detained the subject during questioning, confirming he was in possession of a backpack and had no other baggage,” said Ontario Police Service Public Information Officer Denyse Quezada.

The Ontario Fire Department and bomb squad also arrived on scene within minutes. After initial questioning, the suspect told investigators that he was on FaceTime with a friend who was playing an online game.

“The friend was playing a video game called ‘Call of Duty’ and had just been taken out by a C4 explosion in the game. The subject’s statement was related to a video game and not an actual explosive,” Quezada added.

Investigators also called the friend on the other end and corroborated the story before the suspect was released.

Passengers on board the Frontier Airlines plane were evacuated and the airport was also partially emptied.

“There was a brief incident this evening at T2 involving a passenger. Out of an abundance of caution, the east side of the terminal was cleared and flights were held during the investigation. The investigation is complete and operations are now resuming,” said Steve Lambert, spokesperson for the Ontario International Airport.

A K-9 bomb detection team also scanned the aircraft and surrounding terrain, finding no explosives or signs of danger. All passengers, except the man who made the statements, were then allowed to board the plane.

The airport welcomed nearly 5.3 million passengers in the first nine months of 2026 and is expected to welcome nearly 7 million passengers for the full year, an increase of more than 65% in passenger volume since 2016, when the airport came under local control.

In September 2026, a total of 582,315 passengers arrived at Ontario International Airport, and Frontier Airlines carried almost 10.9% of these passengers on its flights.

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