Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport (DCA) has resumed its operations after a bomb threat to the incoming United Airlines flight 512 from Houston George Bush Intercontinental Airport led to a closure of airport runways on Tuesday. The flight landed around 11:30am local time, and the airport started its operations at 12:50pm after thorough check by the law enforcement team to identify no bomb was found.
DCA shutdown after security threat phone call:
As per media reports, control tower of DCA received a phone call from a person who demanded $500,000 cryptocurrency before the United Airlines flight 512 makes a landing. He also threatened to blast the flight with a bomb aboard if they don’t meet his demand.
The airport was shutdown immediately at 11:18am in response to the threat. The United Airlines flight 512, Boeing 737 Max 8, landed safely and halted on an airway. The flight had 89 passengers and six crew members on board and everyone was evacuated safely to the terminal with the help of airstairs and bus.
DCA, in a statement on X had said:
“Metropolitan Washington Airports Authority police are conducting a thorough investigation with the assistance of multiple law enforcement partners. Several flights were diverted to other airports during the runway closure. People meeting passengers or flying this afternoon should expect delays and check with their airline for updated flight information.”
United States Secretary of Transportation, Sean Duffy wrote in the X about the incident. He said,
“Earlier today a United flight from Houston to Washington D.C. received a bomb threat. The flight landed safely at DCA, passengers were evacuated, and law enforcement conducted a full search of the aircraft. The Federal Aviation Administration has received the all clear and operations have resumed. I want to thank our brave men and women in law enforcement for their quick response.”
Delay in flights at Reagan National Airport:
The airport announced a full ground stop for 90 minutes after the bomb threat and halted all the arrivals and departures. According to reports, during the ground stop, 31 flights were diverted to the nearby airports and the DCA is still experiencing the delay in arrivals and departures.
Though the operations are resume in the DCA there is a ground delay in the airport. The average delay at the DCA to arrivals and departures are more than 80 minutes in the evening of 4th of November.
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