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All flights in and out of Ronald reagan Washington National airport Virginia temporarily banned Tuesday afternoon after bomb threat United Airlines aircraft.
The entire airport was brought to a ground stop as passengers were evacuated from aircraft and escorted to the terminal. Federal Aviation Administration It was said that flights have not resumed after the first stoppage.
The plane was moved away from the terminal while authorities investigated. Airport officials said flights resumed at 12:50 pm and the runways reopened.
US Secretary of Transportation sean duffy The threat was confirmed on social media, writing that the flight landed “safely” at DCA and that “passengers were evacuated, and law enforcement conducted a thorough search of the aircraft.”
The FBI Washington Field Office reported that “no threat was found” in the flight.
A person briefed on the incident told Reuters that a threat had been made against the aircraft and that it was being investigated out of an abundance of caution.
Around 11:30 a.m., air traffic controllers could be heard talking to a United flight about an “unconfirmed bomb threat.” WUSA9 reported.
An air traffic controller can be heard telling the flight crew, “I’m sorry to have to do this to you. We have to call you back again… We have an unconfirmed bomb report for your flight, and we have to get you off the airport.”
A few minutes later, air traffic control warned other flights about the potential danger.
An air traffic controller said in LiveATC audio at about 11:37 p.m., “We have an unconfirmed bomb report… I mean, I can confirm that somebody called. Somebody called and said there was a bomb on 512, they said if it landed, it would explode – well, it landed.”
Emergency crews responded to the plane around noon, with Reagan Airport officials confirming in a post on Twitter at 12:22 p.m. that the plane had been evacuated.
“All flight operations are taking place at Reagan National while passengers on United Airlines flights are being deplaned and transported to the terminal,” the airport posted.
According to DCA, some flights had to be diverted to other airports due to runway closure.
“Travelers meeting or flying this afternoon should expect delays and should check with their airline for updated flight information,” the airport wrote in a later update on the news.
According to Reuters, more than 120 flights in Reagan were delayed as a result. The airport is located about 5 miles from the White House and the US Capitol.
Flight tracking site Flightradar24 said the problem was caused by an unconfirmed threat against a United flight that arrived at the airport from Houston.
United did not immediately respond to a request for comment. Independent.