A 23-year-old man from Monroe, Michigan, has been arrested after he called in a false bomb threat at Detroit Metropolitan Airport in an attempt to delay a Spirit Airlines flight he had missed.
The incident, which occurred on June 5, 2025, caused a significant disruption at the airport and led to a six-hour delay for Flight 2145, bound for Los Angeles.
According to authorities, the man, identified as John Charles Robinson, made a phone call at approximately 6:25 a.m., claiming he had information about a bomb threat involving the flight.
He suggested that someone intended to smuggle explosives through TSA, urging the airline to prevent the flight from boarding. The airline, taking the threat seriously, immediately cancelled the flight. Passengers were deplaned and transported to another terminal, while bomb-sniffing dogs and FBI agents conducted a thorough search of the aircraft. Fortunately, no explosives were found.
The disruption, which lasted for several hours, affected all passengers on the flight, causing a significant delay.
Investigators soon traced the call to Robinson through phone records and discovered that he had missed the flight and was told to rebook.
He “stated that he made the call with the hope that it would delay the flight long enough for him to make it in time so he would not have to take a different flight,” the FBI said in a court filing.
Later that evening, Robinson returned to the airport to board a different flight, at which point FBI agents arrested him.
Robinson now faces federal charges for maliciously providing false information about an explosive device, a crime that carries serious consequences. He was released on bond following a court appearance and is scheduled for a preliminary examination later this month. U.S. Attorney Jerome Gorgon Jr. strongly condemned the act, highlighting the threat’s potential to undermine public safety and waste valuable law enforcement resources.
