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[Update] Sony Online President Tweets "All Is Well" Regarding Airplane Bomb Threat, FBI Responds
Update #3: The FBI has responded to our inquiry about the incident and representative offered the following statement:
Today AA Flight 362 traveling from Dallas to San Diego was diverted to Phoenix Sky Harbor Airport. The flight landed without incident. Passengers were safely removed from the plane.
The investigation is still ongoing.
Sony Online President John Smedley confirmed his safety following the incident a few minutes ago, details of which you can find below.
Update #2: Sony online president John Smedley has confirmed his safety and says justice will find the perpetrators.
All is well
— John Smedley (@j_smedley) August 24, 2014
Yes. My plane was diverted. Not going to discuss more than that. Justice will find these guys.
— John Smedley (@j_smedley) August 24, 2014
Smedley, understandably, can't say more than the tweets above as the investigation is now in the hands of the FBI. We've reached out to the FBI for a statement regarding the ongoing situation.
Update #1: A representative from Sony has offered a statement regarding the situation:
The FBI is currently handling the situation at this time. We have no further comment.
We've reached out to the FBI for more information or a statement and will make sure to update this story if any new details surface.
Original story:
The group claiming responsibility for today's DDoS attacks on the PlayStation network and others has issued a bomb threat to a flight carrying Sony Online President John Smedley, forcing his flight to divert.
.@AmericanAir We have been receiving reports that @j_smedley's plane #362 from DFW to SAN has explosives on-board, please look into this.
— Lizard Squad (@LizardSquad) August 24, 2014
Originally meant to fly from Dallas to San Diego, as tweeted by Smedley earlier today, the flight has been diverted (you can find the flight's path here) to Phoenix for "security reasons" according to the tweets below.
Awesome. Flight diverted to Phoenix for security reasons.
— John Smedley (@j_smedley) August 24, 2014
Something about security and our cargo. Sitting on Tarmac
— John Smedley (@j_smedley) August 24, 2014
Follow up tweets from the group continue to goad Smedley asking if he is okay and requesting that the FBI come to arrest them.
We've reached out to Sony for more details on the incident and will update this story if new details emerge.
[Source: Twitter (1),(2), (3), Polygon]
Our Take
It's unclear exactly who is responsible for these threats (it might not actually be @LizardSquad) or what the agenda is exactly, but this has moved beyond trolling and into troubling, dangerous territory.
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