An AndoluJet Boeing 737 aborted take-off at Tel Aviv’s Ben Gurion Airport on Tuesday after nine people on board used the iPhone AirDrop function to send photos of aviation disasters to passengers’ phones. The suspects are reportedly Israeli citizens and were passengers on the flight.

They were removed and could be prosecuted for disseminating false information, according to spokesman for the Israel Airports Authority.

The offence carries a maximum three-year prison term in Israel.

According to the Hebrew Ynet news site, the pictures included a Turkish Airlines plane which crashed in the Netherlands in 2009, a crash in the US in 2013, and a person climbing on top of a jet engine.

Passengers were so alarmed by the images that reportedly a woman fainted and another had a panic attack. Others informed the flight crew, and the pilot made the right call in heading back to the gate, the spokesman said.

The plane took off for Istanbul hours late after a security check of the plane, luggage and those onboard.

AirDrop, the method used for the file transfer, allows an iPhone user to send out images to other devices in the vicinity.