A United Airlines flight bound for Los Angeles International Airport from New Jersey was diverted to Chicago Wednesday because of an alleged bomb threat, according to media and passenger reports.
Passengers were evacuated from the plane, United Flight 1533, after it landed at O’Hare Airport in Chicago at 7:44 a.m. Central Standard Time, according to reports out of Chicago.
“On a United flight from Newark to LAX — someone allegedly went into the bathroom and made a bomb threat on the bathroom window (mirror) and now we’ve made an emergency landing in Chicago,” passenger Rashad Robinson wrote on X, formerly Twitter. “We (were) forced to leave all of our stuff on the plane and have no idea what is happening next.”
Robinson posted a series of photos showing what appeared be other passengers being loaded onto buses on the tarmac. He wrote that security officials were going through everyone’s bags, “and we don’t have a clear plan for getting to LA or back to Newark.”
There were 202 passengers on the flight headed for LAX from Newark Liberty International Airport in New Jersey. The flight left shortly after 6 a.m.
According to a CBS affiliate in Chicago, a bomb-sniffing dog found a suspicious bag, and a robot was used to remove it. Police were questioning the passenger who checked the bag.
The FBI was investigating. The Federal Aviation Administration reported the flight was diverted to Chicago for security reasons.
United Airlines officials said in a statement to some media outlets that it expects to fly the passengers to Los Angeles “later this afternoon.”