“Security Issue” Diverts United Airlines’ Newark-LAX Flight to Chicago
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A United Airlines jet taxies to the gate at O'Hare International Airport in Chicago in 2020. (Antonio Perez/Chicago Tribune/TNS)
By California Insider Staff
2/21/2024Updated: 2/21/2024

A United Airlines flight bound for Los Angeles International Airport from New Jersey was diverted to Chicago on Feb. 21 because of a “security issue,” the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) said.

The FAA added that Flight 1533 landed at O’Hare International Airport around 7:40 a.m. local time with no major incidents.

One passenger, Rashad Robinson, posted this account on X:

“On a United flight from Newark to LAX—someone allegedly went into the bathroom and made a bomb threat on the bathroom [mirror] and now we’ve made an emergency landing in Chicago. We [were] forced to leave all of our stuff on the plane and have no idea what is happening next.”

The FAA said the flight was diverted “after the crew reported a security issue.”

Passengers were evacuated at O’Hare airport, Chicago news reports said.

Robinson posted pictures on X showing other passengers getting into buses on the tarmac. According to Robinson, security officials searched the passengers’ personal items.

A bomb-sniffing dog found a suspicious bag and a robot was used to remove it, a CBS affiliate in Chicago said. Police questioned the passenger who checked the bag.

United Airlines said in a statement that it would be flying the passengers to Los Angeles “later this afternoon.”

City News Service contributed to this report.

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