Two United Airlines flights have been disrupted by bomb scares in separate incidents over the same weekend. In both cases, no actual threat was identified, and passengers were later able to reach their intended destinations without further incident.
Security incident in Denver
On Sunday, April 19, United Airlines Flight 2408 was due to depart from Denver International Airport for Washington, D.C. However, the flight was unexpectedly delayed after reports of a possible bomb threat on board.
A passenger described the incident to NBC Washington, stating:
“When they said that there was a security incident and all the flight attendants were texting each other instead of talking to each other, and they opened all the overhead bins and were looking into all the overhead bins, we knew that something was weird.”
The aircraft turned back before it could reach the runway, and the 200 passengers on board were promptly evacuated. Images shared to social media later showed emergency vehicles responding to the scene. However, following a lengthy search, the aircraft was confirmed to be clear.
Passengers on the disrupted flight eventually boarded an alternative flight and arrived safely at Dulles International Airport at around 4:30 a.m. the following morning.
A chaotic weekend for United Airlines
However, this was not the first incident of this nature to hit United Airlines on that weekend.
The previous day, on Saturday, April 18, another United Airlines flight operating from Chicago O’Hare International Airport was forced to divert due to concerns about an unidentified beeping noise on board.
In a recording obtained by The Sun, the flight’s pilot can be heard alerting air traffic control to the potential security threat, stating:
“We’ve got an issue up here. We’re getting a sequential beeping of a suspected item on board. We are going to have to start treating this as a potential bomb.”
Rather than its intended destination of LaGuardia Airport, the flight landed at Pittsburgh International Airport. 159 passengers and six crew members were evacuated using emergency slides as a precaution. According to The Independent, upon examination by the FBI and local bomb squads, no credible threat was identified.
Pittsburgh International Airport confirmed that no other flights at the airport were impacted by the incident. United Airlines has stated that passengers boarded a different aircraft to LaGuardia Airport, which departed at 4:24 p.m.
The causes of the two incidents have yet to be confirmed by officials, but no link between them has been publicly identified by authorities.
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