United Locks Down Cockpit Over Hijacking Text—Passengers Say Someone Was Onboard Without A Ticket

A United Airlines flight from Las Vegas to Newark turned back Saturday night after a flight attendant reportedly saw a passenger texting about hijacking the plane. The pilots locked down the cockpit, but told air traffic control the passenger didn’t know anything was happening. The Boeing 737 MAX 8 returned to Las Vegas. Then the crew timed out, turning the security issue into an overnight delay. United flight 1681 departed on October 24. The airline calls it a “potential security concern” and reports 150 passengers and six crew. The hijacking story comes from air traffic control recording. The controller asks whether the passenger is compliant or restrained. The pilot responds that the passenger doesn’t know anything is going on, and refers to a text seen by a flight attendant. The flight attendant saw him texting that he was going to hijack the aircraft and called me… The crew had another problem to manage: they’d just taken off for a cross country flight and were heavy with fuel. They asked controllers to cancel an approach clearance so they could prepare for the return, requested several minutes to get set up and burn off extra fuel. They warned the tower that they might need the entire runway. Passengers onboard the flight say they were given a different explanation of what was happening. Well I was on the flight. Initially they told us this guy was not supposed to be on flight and he was. Then they told us it’s a law enforcement situation and K9 sweeping the flight inside out. Another, who says the captain announced that someone had boarded without a ticket, reports: Actually, only three people were removed from the flight. I was sitting in row three. All three were in handcuffs when we started deplaning. By the time they finished deplaning, they had released two of the individuals and walked the other individual away in handcuffs. United in Las Vegas I’ve covered a Jet Airways passenger whose Snapchat message said “Terrorist on board, I destroy women’s hearts”. Someone behind him read it, told a flight attendant, and the plane returned to the gate. Police found nothing suspicious. And United turned a flight to Spain back to Newark after a teenager’s Bluetooth speaker reportedly appeared as “BOMB.” For this flight, United says the crew timeout meant waiting until Sunday morning to try again, departing around 7 a.m. Sunday and arriving at Newark more than eight hours late. As one passenger put it “at least we all got a free meal voucher that expires tomorrow.” Topics on this page