An American Airlines flight en route from Omaha to Los Angeles was forced to make an emergency landing on Monday after a miscommunication led pilots to believe that an attempted cockpit breach was underway.
According to a report by the New York Post, the flight returned to Eppley Airfield in Omaha less than 40 minutes after takeoff. The confusion began when the pilots lost contact with the cabin crew due to a malfunction in the intercom system.
“The flight crew was knocking on the cockpit door to re-establish communication,” the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) said. However, hearing banging on the door and static over the intercom, the pilots feared a hijacking attempt and decided to immediately turn the aircraft back.
The plane landed safely at 7:45 pm local time, and law enforcement officials boarded the aircraft soon after. Omaha Airport later confirmed that no security threat had occurred. “There was no security-related incident at Eppley Airfield this evening,” the airport said in a statement.
Following the safe landing, the captain apologised to passengers for the confusion, 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. We have to figure out what’s going on.”
The incident adds to a series of recent in-flight emergencies. On Sunday, a Delta Airlines Flight 898 was diverted to Atlanta after passengers reported a smoky smell in the cabin. In another case, a United Airlines flight from Denver to Los Angeles made an emergency landing in Salt Lake City when a mystery object struck the windshield, injuring the pilot and scattering glass fragments inside the cockpit.
