Alaska Airlines flight grounded as passengers ‘threaten to take over plane’
An Alaska Airlines flight was suddenly grounded after unruly passengers allegedly threatened to take over the aircraft.
The Seattle-bound jet left the gate at Miami International Airport and was taxiing down the runway at 6.40pm on Sunday when the worried pilot contacted Air Traffic Control and alerted authorities they were going into lockdown.
‘Ramp, Alaska 305, we have set the parking brake and we have a customer disturbance onboard right now, with threats coming from customers,’ the pilot could be heard telling an air traffic controller in audio obtained by ATCapp, an air traffic control tracking service.
‘We want to go into a lockdown protocol. We are shutting down the engine and parking brake set.’
Pilots are trained to initiate a lockdown protocol whenever the integrity of the cockpit is being threatened, keeping the cockpit doors shut until the threat is removed.
In an update moments later, he added: ‘The flight attendants have received threats from customers onboard the aircraft. The last thing we heard from the flight attendant is that we had a customer threaten to take the aircraft over.’
When the air traffic controller then asked whether the crew needed law enforcement to respond, the pilot replied: ‘Absolutely.’
Deputies from the Miami-Dade Sheriff’s Office Airport District were seen racing to one of the gates.
An Alaska Airlines flight preparing to take off for Seattle from Miami International Airport on Sunday night was suddenly grounded
Air traffic control audio appeared to suggest the flight was stopped after passengers made threats
Alaska Airlines later confirmed two passengers were temporarily banned from the airline.
‘This evening at approximately 6.40pm, Miami-Dade Sheriff’s Office Airport District deputies responded to one of the gates at Miami International Airport after a flight attendant reported possible suspicious activity,’ the sheriff’s office told travel news site Paddle Your Own Kanoo.
‘Out of an abundance of caution, passengers were temporarily deplaned while deputies investigated the incident.’
Authorities ultimately concluded there was ‘no credible threat,’ the sheriff’s office said and the two passengers involved in the threat were rebooked on another flight.
At that point, all of the other passengers were allowed to reboard the Boeing 737 and the flight continued its trip to Seattle.
A spokesperson for Alaska Airlines also told the outlet that ‘two guests onboard Alaska Airlines flight 305 from Miami (MIA) to Seattle (SEA) were disruptive during the aircraft’s taxi.
‘The aircraft returned to the gate, where it was met by law enforcement, and the passengers were removed and temporarily banned from flying with us.’
The spokesperson added: ‘The safety of our guests and crew is always our highest priority.
‘We appreciate our employees’ professionalism and apologize to our guests for the delay and inconvenience.’
Deputies from the Miami-Dade Sheriff’s Office Airport District were seen responding to one of the gates at the international airport (pictured)
According to data from FlightRadar24, the flight landed at Seattle-Tacoma International Airport at 10pm.
The terrifying ordeal came amid a decline in unruly passenger incidents.
According to the Federal Aviation Administration, there have been 1,014 unruly passenger incidents in 2026 so far.
While it remains unclear whether the year will end with fewer unruly passenger incidents than 2025, when 1,621 incidents were reported, it shows a vast improvement over the height of chaos during the COVID pandemic.
In 2021, a record-breaking 5,973 incidents were reported, many of which were connected to face mask non-compliance issues.
The Daily Mail contacted Alaska Airlines and the airport’s police for comment.
