A bomb threat on a United Airlines flight bound for the Washington, D.C. area caused all flights at Ronald Reagan National Airport to be grounded briefly Tuesday, with passengers and crew members evacuated from the aircraft. According to officials, the threat was directed towards the 89-passenger Boeing 737 plane coming from Houston, Texas.
The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) put all flights into and out of the airport on hold while the aircraft was taken to an isolated area. Passengers disembarked, and were then bused to the terminal, with United Airlines and the Metropolitan Washington Airports Authority providing updates throughout the incident.
The FBI's Washington Field Office National Capital Response Squad responded to the reported threat, stating no hazardous materials were found during their investigation. Law enforcement is now working to determine the source of the threat.
Airport operations resumed at around 1:30 p.m. ET, according to U.S. Department of Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy. He thanked law enforcement for responding swiftly. However, before flights resumed, delays were reported, with departing flights experiencing an average delay time of over half an hour on Tuesday afternoon, and some experiencing waits of up to two hours.
This incident comes as flight delays across the country have continued to rise due to ongoing government shutdown affecting air traffic controllers' pay.
The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) put all flights into and out of the airport on hold while the aircraft was taken to an isolated area. Passengers disembarked, and were then bused to the terminal, with United Airlines and the Metropolitan Washington Airports Authority providing updates throughout the incident.
The FBI's Washington Field Office National Capital Response Squad responded to the reported threat, stating no hazardous materials were found during their investigation. Law enforcement is now working to determine the source of the threat.
Airport operations resumed at around 1:30 p.m. ET, according to U.S. Department of Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy. He thanked law enforcement for responding swiftly. However, before flights resumed, delays were reported, with departing flights experiencing an average delay time of over half an hour on Tuesday afternoon, and some experiencing waits of up to two hours.
This incident comes as flight delays across the country have continued to rise due to ongoing government shutdown affecting air traffic controllers' pay.
... I mean what's with these bomb threats? Can't we all just get along? 
and then you got these flight delays because of the govt shutdown, it's like, come on, sort it out already! 
. I'm glad no one got hurt but seriously, who makes these threats and why do they think it's gonna scare people into doing whatever it is they want? 
. And now flights are still delayed, what a waste of time... I hope whoever made that threat gets caught and faces consequences, but at the same time, I'm worried about the impact on our economy and travel plans 
.
Can you believe how quickly everything went haywire when that bomb threat hit a United Airlines flight? I'm all for safety, but grounding an entire airport and evacuating hundreds of people just because of a threat is a bit extreme, don't you think? 
It's like we're living in a Hollywood movie where every random phone call becomes a potential bombshell 
. I do feel for the passengers and crew who had to go through that stress though. And it's not like this incident was isolated - with all those flight delays happening across the country, our air travel system is already pretty strained. Maybe we need to rethink how we handle these kinds of situations? 
And now this bomb threat thing at Ronald Reagan National Airport? It's just another thing to deal with on top of everything else. My cousin has a meeting in D.C. tomorrow and she's already stressing about how she's gonna make it on time... I don't know what the solution is, but can we please just get our lives back to normal? 
This government shutdown stuff is really starting to take its toll on people's daily routines.
I mean, can't even fly right now because of some random threat 
. It's already stressful enough dealing with flight delays due to the government shutdown, and now this? 
. Thankfully no one got hurt and law enforcement did their job quickly, but seriously what's going on in our country? 
. I mean, can't we just have one day without some weird threat or another? 
i guess that's one way to get some air travel-induced wanderlust!
The good news is that everything seems to be back to normal now, but I'm still shook by how close we came to having a major incident on our hands! 
I mean, I know law enforcement is doing their thing but I wish someone could tell us what's going on behind closed doors... or at least give us some clarity about it 
. First off, it's just a waste of time for everyone - passengers, crew members, and law enforcement. I mean, can't they just figure out what's going on already? And now we're paying the price with all these flight delays... I'm starting to think that half an hour wait is nothing compared to what people are going through in the shutdown 
. Can't we all just stay safe without causing such chaos?
. It's absolutely unacceptable that such a threat was made, but thankfully, no hazardous materials were found 
. The prolonged grounding of flights at Ronald Reagan National Airport is just another example of how these types of threats can have far-reaching consequences on the aviation industry 
.
. I just hope this incident serves as a wake-up call for everyone involved – including lawmakers – to address the root causes of these delays and find ways to improve airport security without compromising safety standards 
.
. Grounding all flights at Ronald Reagan National Airport for a bomb threat is just crazy 
️. Can't we just have smooth air travel without all these disruptions?! 
. On the bright side, at least everyone got evacuated safely and there was no actual bomb found 
. anyhoo, lets talk about how this is just another example of air traffic controllers being underpaid and overworked. like, come on US gov, get it together! 
... she's getting so old now! I was trying to decide what cake to get her and I ended up getting that weird vegan chocolate one that nobody likes, but she loves it for some reason 
. Anyway, back to flights... have you ever noticed how planes always seem to be taking off/landing at the same time? Like, is it a coincidence or something? And oh yeah, I was at the grocery store yesterday and they had those new single-serve snacks that come in like 10 different flavors