An American Airlines flight made an emergency landing in Nebraska shortly after take-off after the pilots mistakenly feared someone was trying to break into the cockpit and hijack the plane when flight attendants started banging on the cockpit door.
American Airlines Flight 6469 made the abrupt return to Omaha Airport late Monday — less than 40 minutes after departing for Los Angeles.
The saga unfolded when the flight crew suddenly lost contact with the pilots due to a glitch with the intercom, a spokesperson for the airline said.
The pilots, who could hear a static sound over the intercom, then thought someone was trying to hijack the plane when the flight attendants started pounding on the door of the cockpit.
They quickly turned the plane, operated by SkyWest, around and made the emergency landing.
“SkyWest Flight 6569 landed safely after returning to Eppley Airfield in Omaha, Nebraska, around 7:45 p.m. local time on Monday, Oct. 20, after declaring an emergency when the pilot could not contact the cabin crew,” the Federal Aviation Administration said in a statement.
“After landing, it was determined there was a problem with the inter-phone system and the flight crew was knocking on the cockpit door.”
The captain later apologized to passengers as soon as the misunderstanding was cleared up, ABC7 reported.
“We weren’t sure if something was going on with the airplane, so that’s why we’re coming back here,” the captain said over the intercom, according to passengers.
“It’s gonna be a little bit. We have to figure out what’s going on.”
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