Citizen app sends plane crash alert to LA residents - but it was just a training drill at LAX

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Tuesday, June 22, 2021
Citizen app sends erroneous plane crash alert to LA residents
A false alarm created a major scare for more than 60,000 users of the Citizen app on Saturday when an alert was sent warning of a plane crash at Los Angeles International Airport.

A false alarm created a major scare for more than 60,000 users of the Citizen app on Saturday when an alert was sent warning of a plane crash at Los Angeles International Airport.

It turns out the app had mistaken an airport drill for a real disaster and sent "Nearby Incident! Unoccupied Airplane crashed into Terminal at Los Angeles."

Earlier in the morning, LAX tweeted: "LAX is hosting a training exercise from 8am to noon. Emergency vehicles and personnel may be visible on the airfield. This is only a training exercise."

As soon as the Citizen app realized the error, it sent this correction: "LAFD Training Drill. Updated information indicates a training drill is being conducted until noon today. There are no injuries or crashed aircrafts at LAX."