(ReliableNews.org) – Since September 11, 2001, authorities have been a lot more vigilant about air travel, for obvious reasons. A passenger on a recent flight out of Orlando, Florida, said the terrorist attacks 22 years ago flashed into their mind while they were up in the air. That flight was forced to make an emergency landing.
On December 5, Breeze Airways Flight 717 left Orlando to head to Providence, Rhode Island, when it was suddenly diverted 45 minutes into the flight. The pilots made an emergency landing at Jacksonville International Airport at approximately 5:30 p.m. Eastern time.
According to reports, a man and woman got into an argument. The man expressed that he wanted to get off of the plane. During the fight, one of the passengers mentioned the word “bomb.” Passenger Rachel Corrigan told Action News Jax that the man said he was going to tell other people that the woman had a bomb and weapons in her bag. She said the people around the couple reported the threat to the airline, and they made the decision to land the flight.
Authorities escorted the couple off the plane after it landed in Jacksonville. Initial reports indicated police arrested the two, because they were placed in handcuffs after they deplaned. However, the FBI later confirmed neither one of them was taken into custody.
The headache for the passengers began when the flight landed in Jacksonville. They waited around for hours to hear news about a replacement. By 8 p.m., it was canceled, and the passengers were told they could leave the airport for the evening. The airline told the travelers they would receive reimbursement for their hotel if they decided to get one.
Breeze Airways released a statement to the media saying the safety of its passengers is the airline’s “paramount concern.”
On December 6, the passengers once again boarded a flight and headed to their destination, where they made it without incident this time.
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