A poorly-named Wi-Fi hotspot sparked a security scare on a Qantas flight and prompted about 50 terrified passengers to refuse to fly.

The hotspot name - Mobile Detonation Device — was spotted by a female passenger who saw it on her phone’s Wi-Fi menu before the plane left Melbourne airport.

She alerted the crew who notified the pilot and security officials.

Passengers aboard the flight said the pilot asked the person responsible for the Wi-Fi name to come forward but no one did.

The passengers were then asked to leave the plane, which was due to fly to Perth.

Security officials checked the plane but were unable to find a threat and cleared the flight to leave.

“The pilot said a particular passenger had gone to log on and a hotspot name has come up with one which was a scare to Qantas and passengers," a passenger told Channel Seven.

"The pilot made us aware and said they were going to take proper security precautions… After half an hour no one came forward, the Wi-Fi covered a fair distance so [it] could have been someone in the terminal.”

Qantas offered to transfer concerned passengers to alternative flights.

An estimated fifty passengers – about half of those on board – opted to take a different flight.