Passengers Told To “Run” After United Flight Diverts Due To Possible Bomb On Board

United Airlines flight 2092 from Chicago O’Hare to New York LaGuardia diverted to Pittsburgh on Saturday with a possible bomb on board. The Boeing 737 MAX squawked 7700 for an emergency. Passengers were told to “brace brace brace” for an emergency landing, and told not to get anything out of the overhead bins. They stopped at the end of the runway. Everyone was told to get off the aircraft and run, according to a passenger on board.

Here’s a reported first hand account.

I was on board. Diverted for emergency landing. Had us brace brace brace. Said don’t get anything from overhead. Not worth our lives. Landed. Stopped on end of runway right away. Got out on wing and jump Told to Run. Saw thr bomb truck. Awaiting instructions

This is the pilot talking to air traffic control:

Hey, we got an issue up here. We’re getting a sequential feeding suspected item on board. We’re going to have to start treating this as a potential bomb. …Yeah, it’s a beepy noise, sequential one beat per second.

And this is the ACARS message they sent:

Emergency responders addressed the aircraft quickly.

00:00 all passengers have been evacuated.
00:03 We have EOD on scene with us right now.
00:05 We’re going to be explaining the situation to them and we’ll be assisting with them.
00:12 Copy aircraft secure sitting on echo
00:15 All passengers are back.
00:16 EOD on scene.
00:18 Fire command or off tower supervisor looking for an update on buses.

There were no reported injuries. The incident is still officially phrased as a security issue and not an actual bomb threat.

About Gary Leff

Gary Leff is one of the foremost experts in the field of miles, points, and frequent business travel - a topic he has covered since 2002. Co-founder of frequent flyer community InsideFlyer.com, emcee of the Freddie Awards, and named one of the "World's Top Travel Experts" by Conde' Nast Traveler (2010-Present) Gary has been a guest on most major news media, profiled in several top print publications, and published broadly on the topic of consumer loyalty. More About Gary »

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Comments

  1. Glad everyone is okay. That’s no joke.

    @O’Hare Is My Second Home — You weren’t coming to visit this weekend, right? You’re always welcome, fine Illinois brethren. We’ve had beautiful spring conditions this past week, too.

  2. The FAA and all agencies need to really start treating this problematic behavior with jail time. People will not learn and will not take these situations seriously without any consequences.

  3. We have a situation where everyone is scared. Why don’t tell them to run and create even more panic?

  4. @Dan — Why are you so calm. You really should be freaking out right now. DAN! RUN!! RUUNNN!!!!

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