A Twitter Bomb Threat and Fighter Jet Escort

A rather bizarre Twitter exchange unfolded on Saturday afternoon as someone “tweeted” in a bomb threat on a Delta flight headed in to Atlanta.

https://twitter.com/DeltaAssist/status/559040522397179905

Yes, that’s the Delta social media team asking the “caller” where they left the bomb on the plane.

UPDATE: Twitter account was deleted so just the screenshot remains:

And, at first blush, it seems absolutely ridiculous. Why bother to engage or humor the threat. After all, odds are it is not real. But threats like these are taken seriously, whether made via phone, a note left in the lav or Twitter. And so the Delta team engaged, trying to get more interaction about the threat and the “caller” in hopes of making a real determination on the veracity of the threat and better tracking down the person making the claim. The big difference this time around is that the conversation is open for the world to see.

A similar threat was made from the same Twitter account against a Southwest Airlines flight:

https://twitter.com/kingZortic/status/559047613706547200

And, in this case, the threats managed to score F-16 fighter jet escorts for both the planes.

From all appearances the account was created just for this, as was a matching Facebook account. Should be interesting to see what, if anything, comes from the digital trail left here.