All flights in and out of Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport in Virginia were temporarily halted on Tuesday afternoon after a bomb threat was made against a United Airlines plane.
The entire airport was placed on a ground stop as passengers were evacuated off the plane and bused to the terminal. The Federal Aviation Administration said flights have no resumed after the earlier stop.
The aircraft was moved away from the terminal while authorities investigated. Flights resumed and runways reopened at 12:50 p.m., airport officials said.
U.S. Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy confirmed the threat on social media, writing that the flight landed “safely” at DCA and “passengers were evacuated, and law enforcement conducted a full search of the aircraft.”
The FBI Washington Field Office reported “no hazards were found” on the flight.
A person briefed on the incident told Reuters that a threat had been made against the plane and it was being checked out of an abundance of caution.
Air traffic controllers could be heard communicating with the United flight about an “unconfirmed bomb threat” around 11:30 a.m., WUSA9 reported.
“I’m sorry to have to do this to you. We’ve got to turn you, again … We have an unconfirmed bomb report for your flight, and we’ve got to get you away from the airport,” an air traffic controller can be heard telling the flight crew.
A few minutes later, air traffic control warned other flights about the potential threat.
“We have an unconfirmed bomb report … I mean, I can confirm someone called. Someone called and said there was a bomb on 512, they said if it landed, it would explode — well, it landed,” an air traffic controller said in LiveATC audio from around 11:37 a.m.
Emergency crews responded to the aircraft around noon, with Reagan Airport officials confirming the plane had been evacuated in a post on X at 12:22 p.m.
“All flight operations are being held at Reagan National while passengers on a United Airlines flight are being offloaded and bussed to the terminal,” the airport posted.
According to DCA, some flights were forced to divert to other airports while the runways were closed.
“People meeting passengers or flying this afternoon should expect delays and check with their airline for updated flight information,” the airport wrote on X in a later update.
More than 120 flights were delayed at Reagan as a result, according to Reuters. The airport is located about 5 miles from the White House and the U.S. Capitol.
Flight tracking site FlightRadar24 said the issue was caused by an unconfirmed threat against the United flight, which arrived at the airport from Houston.
United did not immediately return a request for comment from The Independent.
