Computer hacker made plane fly sideways: FBI

In a shocking incident in the US, a computer security expert hacked into a plane’s in-flight entertainment system and made the jet briefly fly sideways by ordering one of the engines to go into climb mode. Chris Roberts of ‘One World Labs’ in Denver was flying on the plane at the time it turned sideways, according to an FBI search warrant.

The warrant was first reported on Friday by news network APTN, a Canadian News Service. Roberts told the FBI that he had hacked into planes “15 to 20 times,” according to court documents first made public last week. Roberts first made news in April when he was told he could not fly on United Airlines because of tweets he had made about whether he could hack into the flight’s on board computer settings. The FBI search warrant describes him doing just that.

According to the document, in an interview on February 13, 2015, Roberts told agents he had hacked into in-flight entertainment (IFE) centres on Boeing 737s, 757s and Airbus A-320 aircraft “15 to 20 times.” 

The warrant describes how Roberts would wiggle and squeeze the Seat Electronic Box under his seat, which connected to the plane’s IFE, the USA Today reported. He would then connect a cable to the box and connect it to his computer. From there, Roberts was able to hack into the plane’s IFE system using default IDs and passwords. He overwrote computer code for the planes’ <g data-gr-id="18">thrust</g> management computer, which made the plane climb.