Authorities have confirmed that nine people have been arrested after a group of passengers were sent shocking pictures moments before their plane was scheduled to depart.
As reported by Metro, the incident occurred on an AnadoluJet service – a Turkish airline - and saw the taxiing plane forced to return to the gate at Tel Aviv's Ben Gurion Airport on Tuesday.
Israeli authorities say that alarms were raised after passengers started receiving disturbing images of aviation disasters on their cell phones.
One passenger says they saw a fellow flyer pass out after viewing the upsetting images. The passenger also told Channel 12 TV that they also saw one person having a panic attack.
Once staff became aware of what was happening, the plane - which was bound for Istanbul - then abandoned its takeoff and returned to the gate.
Ofer Lefler, a spokesman for the Israel Airports Authority, has since confirmed that the incident was not part of a cyberattack over the internet against the airline, per Reuters.
Additionally, the news agency reports that nine passengers that were on board the plane have since been arrested.
Authorities believe the AirDrop function on Apple smartphones was utilized by the suspects in order to send the images to other passengers.
The nine individuals now face being prosecuted for disseminating false information - an offense that carries a maximum three-year prison sentence in Israel.
Despite the incident appearing to be some form of cruel prank, Lefler added that the pilot made the right call in abandoning the flight.
After several additional security checks had been carried out on passengers, the plane, and the luggage, the plane was allowed to take off several hours later.
The AirDrop function allows an iPhone user to send media files to other Apple devices within the vicinity, as long as the receiver has the function accessible on their device.
This is not the first recent incident in which Apple technology has been used for concerning purposes.
Last month, one Tennessee family says they were left "terrified" after receiving a notification that their teenage daughter had been tracked with an Apple AirTag during a visit to Disney World in Florida.
