United Airlines Flights Halted By FAA Amid Multiple Bomb Threat Hoax
The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) halted United Airlines flights for a time Tuesday morning amid concerns over multiple bomb threat hoaxes.
FAA officials later said the threats to several passenger carriers — including a United Airlines flight — were not credible. However, United flights were halted for 39 minutes on Tuesday morning, citing automation issues as the cause for the halt, CNBC reports.
The scheduled flights are now resuming according to a tweet from United at approximately 10:20 a.m. ET. The FAA has no information on Twitter.
We began delaying flights at approx. 8 a.m. CT to ensure aircraft departed with proper dispatch information. Flights are now departing.
— United (@united) June 2, 2015
According to NBC, there was speculation that the bomb threats to five U.S. carriers came from an ISIS “lone wolf.” As is always the case with these situations, some believe it could be a test run to see how Americans respond to a potential attack.
The threats to United Airlines flights and others and are similar to chemical weapons threats against aircraft last week. The bomb threats also come a day after a disturbing report was released indicating TSA screeners failed to detect mock explosives and other weapons in 95 percent of tests carried out by undercover agents.
Homeland Security Secretary Jeh Johnson reassigned the acting administrator for the Transportation Security Administration, Melvin Carraway, and ordered improved security at U.S. airports, calling for a review of procedures.
In addition to the United Airlines flights being halted Tuesday morning, a U.S. Airways flight and its passengers was evacuated and searched when it landed at Philadelphia International Airport, but no devices were found by bomb sniffing dogs.
#BREAKING: Passenger deplane as sniffing dogs check out plane at @PHLAirport: http://t.co/zF3nPAylU9 pic.twitter.com/etvZ66iCjn
— NBC10 Philadelphia (@NBCPhiladelphia) June 2, 2015
Cops board plane at Philly airport amid threats to five flights – one still in air http://t.co/LxiSeOqjfp pic.twitter.com/6jsD6pLuH8
— Independent US (@IndyUSA) June 2, 2015
The airport confirmed there was an ongoing police investigation after Flight 648 from San Diego landed as scheduled, with 93 people aboard.
“The TSA Operations Center in Washington, DC had received a phone threat stating that there was an explosive device on the plane,” Philadelphia Police Chief Inspector Joe Sullivan told NBC News. “Out of an abundance of caution” the airport declared a bomb threat and moved the plane to a remote area. Police found no evidence of a device on board.
In addition to the United Airlines flights halted and the U.S. Airways emergency landing in Philadelphia, a Delta flight to Atlanta, a Korean Air flight to San Francisco, and a Volaris Air flight to Gudalajara, Mexico, were also threatened, according to government sources. All flights have safely landed, except the Koren Air flight, which is expected to land at 2:22 p.m. ET.
[Photo by Scott Olson/Getty Images]
