Call of Duty Responds After a Player Got a Plane Evacuated

A plane was evacuated at Ontario International Airport in California because of a Call of Duty player. The incident happened on Sunday, November 8, aboard a Frontier Airlines flight that was preparing to depart.

During boarding, one passenger was on FaceTime with a friend while playing Call of Duty. During the call, he said the words “bomb” and “explosion” several times, and another passenger overheard him. That passenger took it as a real threat and alerted the crew.

Officials evacuated the plane and cleared the east wing of the airport’s Terminal 2. Ontario police arrived and detained the player. During questioning, he explained that he’d been talking to a friend about Call of Duty and that the bomb and explosion comments referred to events in the game.

Police searched the plane and found no explosives or suspicious items. Investigators concluded that no crime had been committed. All passengers, including the detained player, were allowed to reboard and continue their trip. It hasn’t been reported how long the flight was delayed or where it was headed.

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The Call of Duty team responded to the incident too. On November 12, the official Call of Duty account on X shared the evacuation story with a joking comment: “On Terminal, comms are part of the game. At the terminal, keep them in your headset.” It’s a nod to Terminal, one of the series’ most famous maps, which is set in an airport. It first appeared in 2009’s Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 and has returned in several later games.

The story is a good reminder to watch your words at the airport, even if you’re just talking about a game with friends. That goes double for a shooter like Call of Duty, where bombs and explosions are part of everyday play.