MIAMI INTERNATIONAL AIRPORT, FLA. (WSVN) - A plane heading from New York to Miami was grounded on the runway for several hours after landing, Wednesday morning, due to reports of a threat.
Passengers on Delta Airlines flight 2057 were forced to evacuate the plane and go through security screenings before finally being transported to the terminal.
“There’s some sort of threat on the plane. What it is, nobody knows,” said Orlando Pena, who was waiting to pick up his family.
Cell phone video from some of the passengers showed Miami-Dade Police on the scene, helping put passengers on a bus and transporting them to another part of the airport where they were searched and scanned before they could be reunited with their families.
“We were all freaking out,” said Lety Perez, who was also waiting for family members. “It was scary. It was pretty scary.”
The flight was supposed to land at Miami International Airport at 12:30 a.m. from La Guardia Airport in New York. However, when family members arrived to pickup their loved ones, there was no sight of the passengers and no information as to where they were.
It wasn’t until someone on the plane was able to call a relative that people were informed of the threat. “When we got here it took them over 30 minutes, it took them 30 minutes to get them off the tarmac,” said Pena. “They were sitting on the tarmac and our family started calling us and telling us that something’s wrong with the plane, and they were telling them to shut off their phones. They weren’t letting us talk to them or anything.”
About three hours after their arrival, passengers were finally able to grab their luggage and head home. 7News spoke to some of the passengers. Most said they were relieved nobody was hurt, and although it took some time, they’re glad security was a priority.
“They didn’t tell us anything,” said Andrew Corea. “They just said that the flight, there was some kind of threat in midair, and they landed, and they were very professional, and it was really no problem for what it was.”
“It’s frustrating, but you have to be safe,” said Dorte Abrahams.
Delta Airlines issued a statement after the event that said, “The flight landed normally and without incident. As a precautionary measure, a security sweep of the aircraft was conducted. No security issue was identified, and the aircraft was cleared to return to service.”
At this point, the specific threat made and who it came from is unknown.
Copyright 2024 Sunbeam Television Corp. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.