United flight 2005 from Chicago O’Hare to Minneapolis diverted to Madison, Wisconsin after declaring a ‘Level 4’ threat when a Russian passenger attempted to breach the cockpit. The potential hijacking report occurred abut 20 minutes after takeoff.
The passenger reportedly caused trouble before departure by standing during taxi, then once airborne threatened seatmates and crew and charged the flight deck door.
A passenger on the flight reports that:
- A Russian interpreter was needed
- the passenger had apparently made some kind of threat
- He reached toward a flight attendant and had to be restrained near the front of the aircraft.
Credit: u/llewynwearsflannels
Off-duty law enforcement officers helped subdue the man before prior to the Boeing 737-900 (N69818) landing in Madison, where he was taken into custody. The airline called it a “security concern with an unruly passenger.”
While there are claims that United sent an ACARS message to its flights in the air warning them to secure cockpits because the incident might be coordinated, I’ve seen only the opposite – messages that there’s not believed to be any further threat.
— Daniel Morton (@MrDanielMorton) May 30, 2026
Here’s Dane County public safety radio traffic from the incident.
BREAKING 🚨🚨#Chicago / #Illinois
Audio from the incident aboard United Airlines Flight 2005 tonight where an unknown subject attempted to gain access to the cockpit. Subject was taken down by several off duty law enforcement officers. pic.twitter.com/kdUkPUukjA
— OC Scanner 🇺🇸 🇺🇸 (@OC_Scanner) May 30, 2026
It’s not yet clear what the Russian man was actually after, though unless it was a period of confinement for himself it’s likely he did not achieve his objective.
I don’t know the logistic of such issues, by why in the world does it take 4 1/3 hours to get them back in the air. Madison is a great place, the airport not so much.
No one had phone so they could get an immediate translation ? Seems important to know what he was trying to communicate.
Sean Duffy will now resign as t-rump will want to make this man his new Secretary of Transportation. His “credentials” are more aligned with the current administration.
Fir the idiots: Madison airport was remodeled, is very nice inside, but yes it may close earlier as it is only a regional airport. Law enforcement have the ability to call an interpreter on their phones, and DCSO can obtain numbers to the correct services for that nationality; and lastly, for the Sean Duffy comment – go seek help. You need it.
When an aircraft diverts due to a security breach, all of the passengers will be deplaned. All of the luggage and cargo will have to come off the jet and sequestered.. The jet will have a security sweep from nose to tail, belly to cabin. The cargo and passengers will all have to be re-screened, the aircraft will have to be serviced, new flight plans generated AFTER everything is “put back together”. Then, the passengers can be boarded and the flight continues. It’s not like pulling into the Chevron to top off your SUV.
Ray forgot to take his meds this morning
Russians. They are a nuisance in Bali. You would think the ones running away would be less obnoxious but not the case.
I know this is off-topic, but I can’t figure out how to send you a text message directly.
I’ve noticed on flights that are quite long say eight or nine hours, and this has been confirmed by friends, that it seems like the movie Goodfellas is always being viewed by many passengers
I wonder if you have found this and would wish to comment
@jack the ladd — As with any group, they are not a monolith. Met lovely Russian families in Bali, Phuket, Sri Lanka, and Maldives, but also opposite experiences in same places.