NEW YORK, May 16 (UPI) -- A security researcher suspected of hacking into computerized systems aboard a United Airlines Boeing 737 from Denver to Chicago last month told federal authorities that he once manipulated a jetliner's flight controls to steer the plane sideways, an FBI agent's affidavit states. Chris Roberts, a security researcher with One World Labs, was met by FBI agents after exiting a United flight in Syracuse, N.Y., on April 15 for a tweet posted on his account that suggested he may have hacked into a flight's entertainment system -- activity that he'd supposedly told agents previously that he would stop doing.
The details of Roberts's alleged in-flight activities were detailed by an FBI agent in an application for a search warrant of Roberts' electronic equipment, and reported by Wired magazine and Canadian broadcaster APTV late Friday.
According to the court document, FBI Special Agent Mark Hurley said he had met with Roberts in February and March of this year to inquire about potential security vulnerabilities in some in-flight entertainment systems (IFE) aboard Boeing 737, 757 and Airbus A320 aircraft.
During the conversations, Hurley wrote, Roberts disclosed that he had previously hacked into IFE systems, manufactured by Panasonic and Thales -- which provide video monitors in the passenger seatbacks -- about 15 or 20 times on various flights between 2011 and 2014.
According to the document, Roberts said he gained access to the systems by plugging his own laptop computer into the IFE system's electronic boxes mounted under passenger seats. Once in the system, he said he was able to access other systems -- including the jets' Thrust Management Computer, which is responsible for providing power to the plane's engines.
Special Agent Hurley wrote that Roberts even claimed that he overwrote code in the Thrust Management Computer while aboard one particular flight and "successfully commanded the system he had accessed to issue the "CLB' or climb command.
"He stated that he thereby caused one of the plane's engines to climb, resulting in a lateral or sideways movement of the plane."
The agent also wrote that Roberts claimed to have used software to monitor air traffic from a system in the plane's cockpit.
Exactly which flight, on what type of aircraft and when Roberts supposedly performed the sideways maneuver was not specified in Hurley's affidavit.
At the time of the questioning in February, Agent Hurley wrote, he warned Roberts that hacking a plane's in-flight systems is a federal crime and that he can be prosecuted for it -- to which the security expert replied that he would no longer perform such activities on flights.
Then on April 15, United Airlines contacted the FBI after a tweet was posted by Roberts' account that read, "Find myself on a 737/800, lets see Box-IFE-ICE SATCOM. Shall we start playing with EICAS (engine-indicating and crew-alerting system) messages? PASS(enger) OXYGEN ON Anyone?"
EICAS messages alert pilots to information about a jetliner's engines.
Another Twitter poster replied to the message with, "...aaaaaaand you're in jail" -- to which Roberts's account tweeted, "There IS a distinct possibility that the course of action laid out above would land me in an orange suite (sic) rather quickly."
After he exited the flight in Syracuse, Roberts was met by FBI agents and all of his electronic equipment was confiscated. Agent Hurley's application seeks a search warrant to perform a forensic analysis on the equipment to look for evidence of illegal activity.
Among the items seized by agents were a MacBook laptop, an iPad, three hard drives and numerous removable flash drives.
Later that day, a subsequent tweet appeared on Roberts's account that read, "Lesson from this evening, don't mention planes....the Feds ARE listening." RECOMMENDEDReport: Airplanes vulnerable to WiFi cyberattacks
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