All flights to and from a Washington, D.C., airport were suspended on Tuesday after a bomb threat was reported on board a plane. A security alert was declared at Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport (DCA) around 11:30 a.m. ET on Tuesday.
Passengers who were stuck on the runway said that the bomb threat involved a United Airlines flight that had just arrived from Houston. The United flight was surrounded by cops and emergency vehicles almost immediately. Ben Radnor posted online: "On a Delta flight waiting to take off to JFK. Apparently a bomb threat on a United flight that landed from Houston not long ago. Nothing is allowed to move."
On High Alert
The ground stop was lifted shortly after 1 p.m. ET and replaced with a ground delay, leading to average wait times of about 51 minutes, with some flights delayed for as long as two and a half hours.
DCA will remain under a security-related arrival management program until 11:59 p.m.
The bomb threat came to light after passengers stuck on the runway learned that a United flight arriving from Houston had been declared an emergency and was quickly surrounded by emergency vehicles.
The situation at DCA has now caused delays across the country, as grounded and late-arriving planes are creating backups at other airports. Travelers can expect widespread ripple effects, including delays at major connecting hubs and even some airports in Canada.
A spokesperson for DCA said that while flights were temporarily halted, crews were working to safely offload passengers from the United Airlines plane, which had been moved to the east side of the airfield as a precaution.
No More Danger
The threat reportedly came to light through leaked radio communications between an air traffic controller and the United pilot.
In the recording, obtained by NBC affiliate WRC-TV, the controller can be heard saying, "I'm sorry I have to do this to you... We have an unconfirmed bomb report for your flight. We're going to get you away from the airport."
Traveler S.C. Byrd, who was stuck at DCA during the incident, later posted online that his flight was finally cleared for takeoff at 1:04 p.m. ET.
The panic unfolded just moments before Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy issued a serious warning about how the ongoing government shutdown could affect the airline industry.
"If you bring us to a week from today, Democrats, you will see mass chaos, you will see mass flight delays," Duffy said.
"You'll see mass cancelations, and you may see us close certain parts of the airspace, because we just cannot manage it."
