An FBI affidavit claims that a security expert who was pulled off a flight last month for sending tweets about hacking into a plane's controls admitted to briefly taking control of an aircraft and causing it to fly sideways.
According to an application for a search warrant filed in federal court, Chris Roberts told FBI agents in February that he had hacked into the inflight entertainment systems on airplanes manufactured by both Boeing and Airbus 15 to 20 times between 2011 and 2014. In one instance, the document claimed, Roberts said he infiltrated the airplane's thrust management computer and momentarily took control of an engine. Roberts did not specify when he had done so.