BANGOR- American Airlines (AA) and Bangor International Airport (BGR) became the focus of a serious b*mb threat investigation after threatening messages targeted employees and airport operations.
Robert Tyler Wicks, 25, of Alabama, pleaded guilty to making a b*mb hoax after investigators traced the threats to an online relationship with an American Airlines employee at Bangor Airport.
Bangor Airport B*mb Threat Investigation
The incident began on February 13, 2025, when two American Airlines employees at Bangor International Airport received unsolicited text messages from an unknown number. The sender claimed to have guns, threatened specific employees, and said a b*mb attack would take place.
The messages contained detailed information about American Airlines operations at Bangor Airport. The level of operational knowledge initially led investigators to suspect a possible insider threat, meaning someone with access to information within the targeted organization.
The threats were taken seriously by law enforcement and airport authorities. Flight operations were affected, while the Federal Aviation Administration declared a security incident that also affected air traffic control operations, PYOK reported.
Threats Escalated the Following Morning
Investigators attempted to trace the phone number used to send the threatening messages. They discovered that the sender had used an application capable of displaying a false telephone number, making the initial tracing effort more difficult.
At around 5 a.m. the following day, Bangor Airport’s operations control switchboard received another call. The caller demanded to speak with the FBI’s b*mb specialist and claimed that b*mbs had been placed outside the airport with timers.
The caller issued a seven-minute ultimatum. Law enforcement was told to reactivate the mobile phones that had received the previous day’s threats and return them to the American Airlines employees or the alleged b*mbs would explode.
The incident prompted a law enforcement response inside the airport terminal as investigators worked to determine whether the threats represented a genuine explosive threat.
Investigators Identify a Possible Connection
During the response, officers noticed an American Airlines employee filming the law enforcement activity while participating in a video call. Investigators considered the behavior suspicious and questioned the employee.
The employee explained that she was in a long-distance online relationship with the person on the other end of the call. The pair had reportedly met through TikTok.
This relationship became an important lead in the investigation. Investigators traced the phone number involved in the threats to Wicks’ mother and subsequently identified Wicks as the alleged caller.
According to PYOK, the FBI affidavit filed in a Maine district court detailed how investigators followed the digital and personal connections to identify Wicks despite his efforts to conceal his identity.
Wicks Admits to Making the B*mb Hoax
Wicks initially told investigators that an internet friend from England had pressured him into making the b*mb threats. He later acknowledged that this explanation was fabricated.
Wicks has since pleaded guilty to making a b*mb hoax. The offense carries a potential prison sentence of up to five years, a fine of as much as $250,000 and up to three years of supervised release.
The case remains subject to sentencing. A U.S. Probation Office pre-sentence investigative report will be completed before the court determines Wicks’ sentence.
Motive Remains Unclear
The precise reason Wicks made the threats has not been established in the available case information.
The investigation nevertheless established a connection between the threats, an American Airlines employee at Bangor Airport, and an online relationship. What initially appeared to investigators to be a potential insider threat was instead linked to an individual outside the airport organization.
The case demonstrates how detailed knowledge of an organization’s operations can complicate an initial security assessment, particularly when threatening communications are designed to appear as though they originate from someone with internal access.
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