An American Airlines flight was forced to make an emergency landing after the pilots thought someone was trying to break into the cockpit. The airline, operated by SkyWest Airlines, made an emergency landing in Nebraska on Monday night, the New York Post reported.
Flight 6469 took off from Omaha, Nebraska, at 7:23 pm ET (4:53 am IST) but returned and landed at Eppley Airfield just 36 minutes later, according to data from FlightRadar. The plane had travelled only 40 miles into the 1,300-mile journey before it made a U-turn.
What has happened?
After losing contact with the pilot, the flight attendants started banging on the door to get their attention. The pilots, who could only hear a static noise over the intercom, mistook it for a possible security breach, NBC reported.
They quickly diverted the plane, turning American Airlines Flight 6469 back to Omaha and landing safely less than 40 minutes after takeoff for Los Angeles. The flight later continued to Los Angeles.
‘We apologise for the inconvenience’
Following the incident, the regional carrier SkyWest issued a statement, stating that the flight returned to Omaha “out of caution”.
“[It] experienced communication issues with a flight crew mic. The flight later continued to Los Angeles. We apologise for the inconvenience,” the statement from SkyWest read, NBC News reported.
FAA, too, issued a statement. “SkyWest Flight 6569 landed safely after returning to Eppley Airfield in Omaha, Nebraska, around 7:45 pm local time on Monday, October 20, after declaring an emergency when the pilot could not contact the cabin crew,” the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) said in a statement, per a report by ABC 7.
It added, “After landing, it was determined there was a problem with the interphone system and the flight crew was knocking on the cockpit door.”
Later, the captain, per a video from inside the plan, apologised to the passengers, saying, “We weren’t sure if something was going on with the airplane, so that’s why we’re coming back here. It’s gonna be a little bit [of time]. We have to figure out what’s going on,” the captain said.
