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.
