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Comment by chatmasta | Hacker News Reader

I’ve seen multiple comments referencing this was the default device name… did I miss something in the article or is that sourced from elsewhere?

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I just found the theory referenced on Reddit: https://www.reddit.com/r/KidsAreFuckingStupid/comments/1tsts...

> A redditor who's wife and her friend were on the flight said that the 16yo boy next to wife's friend admitted to naming his speaker "Bomb" long enough ago that he had forgotten he'd named it that. Wife's friend got to hear the questioning

That is also stated clearly in the comments.

Reddit really wants to run with the default speaker name theory, though.

Also, who carries a Bluetooth speaker on a plane? And for what purpose?

Speaker in carry on luggage to be used in vacation. They were flying to Malaga

Not Malaga according to the article — destination was Palma de Mallorca.

Most BT speakers have a battery, which means it has to be in carry-on luggage. Why it would be powered on is the question, but this could have happened inadvertently by getting knocked around in a bag.

Sometimes I see my BT speaker broadcasting BLE info when it is turned off. Most things do not really 'turn off' these days.

Which is actually really useful, in this case – this lets me turn it on from across the room from my phone without having to get up!

I also love that feature on your bluetooth speaker because I can turn it on from inside your walls.

I do, because I want to listen to music when I travel. Not in the plane, but at my destination.

If you want it at your destination you are kind of forced to as you can't transport batteries in your checked luggage.

"bare beating"

> long enough ago that he had forgotten he'd named it that

Actually sounds a lot like "that was the default name but now that everyone's making a big deal about it I'm assuming I must have named it that". I wouldn't assume that this "confession" means that reddit's theory is at all incorrect.

Witnesses are terribly inaccurate sources of information, unfortunately.

(Not to say the alternative also couldn't be the case)

Renaming a Bluetooth device like a speaker permanently for everyone (as opposed to a nickname you give it in your phone or whatever) is difficult if possible at all and usually requires firmware or hardware changes, unless the option is given by the device or its companion app (which is very rare).

So your assumption seems the most likely. I highly doubt a 16 year old kid is firmware hacking a cheap speaker just to rename it for a "joke"

It seems like some newer speakers allow it. I really wanna know what speaker he actually had.

It’s commonplace for Bluetooth speakers to allow changing their Wi-Fi name (SSID) using the related app. Everyone being able to identify each other’s Bluetooth speakers is exactly one purpose of that.

Bluetooth speakers don’t typically have WiFi or SSIDs. The Bluetooth advertising name is changeable on some newer higher end devices, but the vast majority of cheap speakers do not implement this from a practical standpoint. Changing the name on your device only changes the alias that you see, at least on most devices, but it might be possible to hook that on some OSs ?

An, sorry, yes, I confused with Wi-Fi for some reason. Nevertheless, they allow changing the name they broadcast, in the sense that other devices that see it for the first time see the changed name.

Again, very rarely. Highly unlikely this particular one does.

It's not extremely far fetched that someone would call a speaker "bomb". Especially if it's loud and has a lot of bass.

We used to call such devices "boomboxes". And a bomb makes "boom".

Wiktionary also has this meaning listed for bomb: "9. Something highly effective or attractive."

Don't believe anything on Reddit, ever.

I can't explain why, but the top comment is the funniest thing in this whole episode to me:

Removed for violating Rule #6: Must be a kid and must be stupid.

Common reasons for this remove include but not limited to:

Teens are not considered kids as its a different kind of stupid.

For the vast majority of “dumb” devices, it is not possible to rename the Bluetooth advertising name. You can assign a local alias to the MAC of the device so that it shows up to -you- as a custom name, but with the exception of host devices like phones or laptops, it is unusual to be able to change the advertising name.

I'm so confused. We're all commenting on an article that explicitly says it was verified by multiple sources to be a Fitbit. The kid named his Fitbit Bomb. Why are so many people saying it was a speaker? Did they change the article?

It didn’t mention anything about Fitbit when I read it yesterday. Looks like it was updated:

> This article was updated on Monday, June 1, 2026, to include an official statement from United Airlines and additional context on the incident. It was originally published on Sunday, May 31, 2026.

> …

> It has now been reported by various outlets, including the New York Post [0], that the device responsible for the threatening Bluetooth name was a Fitbit. This is a wearable smartwatch and fitness tracker that comes with Bluetooth capability to sync with other devices, such as phones or computers. The 16-year-old owner and the device were not deemed a threat by authorities.

[0] https://nypost.com/2026/05/31/us-news/united-airlines-flight...

I own a bluetooth speaker from the Boom brand and it has obviously the model name as bluetooth ID.

Changing it would require installing an app that I don't really want to for obvious reasons. Additionally some bluetooth device never really turn down completely and still advertize their bluetooth ID via BLE so the teenager in question may not even have realized he could change anything and the commands given (turn off bluetooth) were completely stupid as it wouldn't change anything if people turned down their smartphone bluetooth.

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