American Airlines flight lands safely at LaGuardia after security incident involving passenger
QUEENS, New York (WABC) -- A passenger who triggered a plane's emergency landing at LaGuardia Airport will not face charges as authorities characterized the incident as a "misunderstanding."
Officials say the incident happened on American Eagle Flight 4817 operated by Republic Airways. The plane landed safely just after 3 p.m.
"American Eagle flight 4817, operated by Republic Airways with service from Indianapolis to New York (LGA) deplaned on the taxiway at LGA due to a potential security issue. The aircraft landed safely, and all customers deplaned without incident," American Airlines said in a statement.
According to Port Authority officials, passengers on Flight 4817 reported "suspicious behavior" from another passenger.
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They say the pilot called in an emergency landing for authorities to be on Runway 4.
Passengers caught video showing fire crews pinning down a man on the tarmac moments after the flight landed on the runway.
Eyewitness News spoke to a man who was on flight. He says the suspect was sitting about five or six rows behind him and heard a woman say, "Don't do that, don't do that."
It's not clear what she was referring to but the passenger says immediately panic began on the airplane.
Once the plane landed safely, passengers rushed to get off -- pushing each other down the slides. Some were bloodied.
"We landed really hard and then out of nowhere people were screaming in the back of the airplane," the passenger said. "Some guy apparently may have had a bomb on him. It was a suspicion of a bomb and then everyone was just shoving and pushing, jumping out of the airplane. They launched a slide. People were falling off the slide left and right. They were bleeding. It was crazy."
After interviewing the passenger, authorities determined there was no criminality.
Port Authority Police described it as a "misunderstanding."
There were no reported injuries to any passengers or crew members.
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