A United Airlines flight traveling from Dallas to Chicago made an unscheduled stop in St. Louis after a passenger claimed that his wife’s luggage contained an explosive device.
United Airlines Flight 380 was headed to O’Hare International Airport when the pilot diverted to St. Louis Lambert International Airport, landing at approximately 8:39 a.m. local time on Sunday, Nov. 16, according to reports from KSDK and the New York Post. Authorities said the man who made the claim has since been arrested.
United Airlines confirmed that the aircraft was searched by law enforcement before continuing its journey. KSDK reported that bomb-sniffing dogs were used during the investigation.
The Boeing 737-700 was carrying 119 passengers and five crew members, all of whom were required to deboard during the search.
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“United flight 380 from Dallas to Chicago landed safely in St. Louis to address a potential security concern,” the airline said in a statement. “Law enforcement searched and cleared the aircraft. The flight took off from St. Louis earlier this afternoon and has since landed in Chicago.”
The St. Louis Metropolitan Police Department said the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) was called to assist and opened an investigation into the incident.
The flight-tracking website FlightAware showed that the diversion and investigation resulted in a delay of five hours and 33 minutes, with the flight ultimately landing in Chicago at 2:50 p.m.
Similar situations have been reported recently on other commercial flights. In September, a woman was arrested after allegedly making a fake bomb threat aboard a Frontier Airlines flight from Nashville to Denver.
In another case in July, a man was arrested after deputies in Pinellas County, Fla., responded to a “verbal bomb threat” on an Allegiant Airlines flight headed to Roanoke, Va. Officials said he told a passenger that his laptop was a bomb, prompting an emergency landing at St. Pete-Clearwater Airport. No explosive device was discovered.
