October 29, 2025
Skies meet ‘Password123’ vibes
Collins Aerospace: Sending text messages to the cockpit with test:test
“Text the cockpit” scare has commenters roasting ‘aerospace software’ vibes
TLDR: A flimsy login reportedly let people into a cockpit text system before the account was disabled, and RTX didn’t reply. Commenters roasted aviation tech, debated ethics of disclosure vs. selling, and dug up past outages—equal parts outrage, jokes, and eyebrow‑raises about whether this was new or ancient news.
A jaw-dropper hit the forums: a weak login allegedly opened a web portal that can send text messages to airplane cockpits. The researchers say they didn’t touch the “send” button and the account was soon disabled, but the community went full popcorn mode. One top comment sneered, “standard Aerospace grade software,” calling it shockingly normal to find flimsy passwords in critical systems, and raging that exposing it to the internet is “insane.” Another eyebrow-raiser pointed to an FAA page, hinting the choice of tail number and date looked… loaded. Cue conspiracy winks.
Hot take central: one user joked that RTX (Collins Aerospace’s parent) ghosted the report because “you should sell the vulnerability to the highest bidder,” stirring debate over responsible disclosure vs. “get paid.” Meanwhile, someone brought receipts, linking to BBC coverage of Collins’ check‑in kiosk outages, framing this as part of a bigger pattern. And then a drive‑by “(2009)” comment dropped like a mic—was this old? Misdated? The thread turned into a meme machine: “Password123 of the skies,” “texting pilots like it’s WhatsApp,” and “sky pager” jokes everywhere.
Big mood: outrage, snark, and side‑eye toward aviation tech—plus a sprinkle of conspiracy seasoning and nostalgia for better locks on cockpit doors, and their servers.
Key Points
- •Login to ARINC OpCenter Message Browser was possible using credentials “test:test.”
- •The accessed account appeared as U.S. Navy Fleet Logistics Support Wing within the system.
- •The web service allows sending text messages to aircraft cockpits and viewing sent messages.
- •The reporter did not send any messages but confirmed that sent messages were viewable.
- •RTX did not respond to the vulnerability report; the account was later disabled.