United flight to Spain turns back midair after possible security threat | US news
A United Airlines flight bound for Spain from Newark Liberty international airport was turned back mid-flight on Saturday due to a possible security threat.
This comes a day after another United Airlines flight from Chicago to Minneapolis was diverted to Madison, Wisconsin, on Friday after an unruly passenger tried to breach the cockpit.
Saturday’s flight took off at around 6 p.m. for Palma de Mallorca, Spain, but landed at Newark Liberty at 9:37 p.m., according to the airport’s operator, the New York and New Jersey port authority.
The airline said there were 190 passengers and 12 crew members on board the Boeing 767 aircraft.
Security came to investigate the plane after someone called the Bluetooth device a “four-letter word,” according to air traffic control audio. A passenger post on social media said crew members repeatedly asked passengers to turn off all Bluetooth devices, but two remained on. The flight turned back after contacting the airline’s headquarters in Chicago.
When the port police scanned the plane, the passengers had to be evacuated. Transportation Security Administration (TSA) and Customs and Border Protection (CBP) officers rechecked the passengers before boarding the plane again.
The airline refused to provide detailed information about the cause of the incident.
Passengers boarded a replacement plane with new crew, which took off early Sunday morning and landed in Palma in the afternoon.
This was the third major aviation incident involving a United Airlines flight in at least four weeks.
An airline plane landing at Newark Liberty on May 3 crashed into a utility pole and a delivery truck, according to authorities. The truck driver was slightly injured. No one else was reported injured.
Guardian staff contributed to reporting
