Sources say a bomb threat written on the wall of the lavatory led officials to divert the United Airlines flight.
© Tariq Zehawi/NorthJersey.com + © Jerry Lai-USA TODAY NETWORK
(Newark, NJ) – The FAA says a United Airlines flight was diverted to Chicago on Wednesday after taking off from Newark Liberty International en route to LAX. It was around 7:40 AM when the plane landed at O’Hare Airport. The reason? Apparently someone had written a bomb threat in the lavatory.
FAA officials say the crew first reported a security issue. Passengers were unaware that anything was going on until the in-flight screens listed Chicago as the destination. A passenger explained to Eyewitness News: “They didn’t even announce anything to start. I got a notification on my watch that said my flight was being diverted to Chicago and then everybody in the cabin started looking at each other trying to figure out what was going on. We could feel we were starting to descend. I looked on the seatback map that the new destination as Chicago and then finally after like 15 minutes the pilot came on the radio or on the PA and said there was a situation and that we had to descend.”
Apparently no sort of altercation ensued between crew members of any of the plane’s passengers. Upon landing in Chicago, a “plan one” emergency procedure took place, with cops, fire trucks, and ambulances on stand by. There were 211 passengers on board. They exited the plane and were then bused to a secure area.
The FBI eventually said “there is no indication that there is an imminent threat to public safety or the facility itself at this time.”
