A United Airlines flight was forced to make an emergency landing in Chicago on Wednesday after a bomb threat was reportedly discovered in the plane’s bathroom.
The flight was heading to Los Angeles from Newark, New Jersey when it made an unscheduled landing at Chicago’s O’Hare International Airport at 7:44 a.m. local time due to a potential security concern, a United spokesperson confirmed to HuffPost in a statement. More than 200 passengers were onboard.
The plane was evacuated and cleared by police, the Chicago Police Department said in a statement, which referred further questions to the FBI’s office in Chicago. A representative there told HuffPost its office responded to the incident and determined there was no immediate threat to public safety or to the facility.
According to a preliminary police report obtained by the Chicago Sun-Times and CBS News, the plane was diverted after someone found a note in the plane’s bathroom saying there was an explosive aboard.
A bomb-sniffing dog searched the plane and found a suspicious package, which was then handled by a robot after technicians were unable to open it, the Sun-Times reported. Police were able to question the passenger who checked in the bag, CBS reported, citing the police report.
After a several-hour delay, the same plane was able to resume its journey to Los Angeles at 2:30 p.m., United said.
The incident follows a series of other scares aboard planes in recent days.
On Tuesday an American Airlines passenger reportedly had to be physically restrained after trying to open an emergency exit door while the plane was mid-air. Then on Monday, another United Airlines flight was forced to make an early landing in Denver after pieces of the wing were discovered shredded mid-flight, as seen in a video taken by a concerned passenger.
Last week, two Southwest Airlines passengers were also filmed appearing to get into a physical fight while flying from California to Hawaii. Also, a Delta flight from Amsterdam to Detroit had to turn back after live maggots fell from a passenger’s overhead suitcase onto a woman below.