Pilots issued a hijacking alert after a man is said to have tried to access the cockpit.
The incident unfolded on board the routine flight from New Jersey’s Newark airport to New Orleans on Monday.
United Airlines flight UA2174 had taken off as scheduled from Newark and headed south towards Louisiana when the passenger incident occurred.
Pilots of the Boeing 737 Max are said to have issued a level four alert, which is reportedly used for attempted or successful breaches of the cockpit.
The pilot’s message to other United aircraft said: ‘We had an attempted level four, no other details are known at this time.‘
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The disruptive passenger was seated at the back of the aircraft with the crew for the remainder of the flight.
Despite the alert, the plane made it to New Orleans as planned, touching down shortly after 11pm local time before it was met by the authorities.
United Airlines confirmed that the plane landed safely after ‘a disruptive incident involving a passenger on board.’
The suspect was first identified as a 34-year-old Hispanic male, according to the Daily Mail, citing the Jefferson Parish Sheriff’s Office.
The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) has since named the suspect as Rony Alexander Gomez-Alberto, a Honduran national.
He allegedly behaved erratically on board the flight and told the crew that he had a bomb.
The Department of Homeland Security said he also tried to enter the cockpit, US media reports.
He is being held in custody in Louisiana without a bond following an ICE request to detain him.
Gomez-Alberto, who was living in Bronx, New York, was removed from the United States twice after entering the country illegally, according to authorities.
DHS said the man was deported after an illegal crossing near El Indio, Texas, in 2011.
The second deportation came in 2014 after he reportedly crossed into the US near Columbus, New Mexico, according to ABC7 Eyewitness News.
He re-entered the country illegally a third time in 2019 near San Ysidro, California, before being arrested by US Border Patrol, the DHS said.
Gomez-Alberto was released in January 2020 during removal proceedings by an immigration judge, ABC7 reports.
The aviation industry was left shocked by the alleged hijacking attempt of the Flydubai plane on September 30.
The alleged hijacker, Omani co-pilot Hamam al Hammami, is accused of attempting to take control of the plane from Dubai to Tel Aviv in a bid to crash it.
He allegedly attacked the pilot, Smit Machchhar, with an axe in the cockpit of the plane, which was carrying over 170 people.
The aircraft fell around 16,000 ft within 30 seconds, leaving passengers fearing for their lives.
But Machchhar managed to open the cockpit door, allowing hero passengers to storm in and subdue the suspect.
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