Austin - An American Airlines flight was unable to take off due to suspicious activity on board. The crew had to alert the police due to a suspicious WiFi hotspot .

Last week, the US airline's flight was scheduled to fly from Austin (Texas) to Charlotte (North Carolina).

63-year-old Bruce Steen was on the plane when the incident occurred. He told ABC News that he had initially seen a passenger approaching a flight attendant with a tablet.

A short time later, the pilot announced that the plane would have to return to the gate due to an "administrative problem". By then, however, the crew had already informed the local police.

Another few minutes passed before the pilot called again and spoke of a renamed WiFi hotspot. "There's a bomb on the plane," was the name of the suspicious hotspot, according to the crew.

A police officer entered the plane and asked the person responsible to raise his hand.

He said that if it was a joke, then the situation could be dealt with accordingly - otherwise the entire plane would have to be subjected to a comprehensive investigation.

However, nobody wanted to raise their hand and so all the passengers were eventually escorted off the plane. Each passenger also had to show their hotspot.

The entire baggage compartment was scrutinized and a bomb-sniffing dog examined all the luggage. As no abnormalities were discovered, the aircraft was then released again.

The flight was finally able to take off at around 6.15 p.m. (local time) - around four and a half hours later than originally planned. According to the airport, this incident had no impact on flight operations apart from the delay.