.jpg?trim=0,0,0,0&width=1200&height=800&crop=1200:800 "‘French speaking’ passenger accused of making bomb threat on taxiing Frontier flight in Atlanta – UK Times")
A Frontier Airlines passenger is in custody after allegedly threatening to kill his seatmate and declaring that he had a bomb on board a flight that had just landed in Atlanta.
“He’s in his seat. He is starting to threaten to kill the lady who’s sitting next to him, and he is saying that he has a bomb on board,” the pilot told the tower shortly after landing around 5 pm. Passengers were safely removed from the Airbus A320. The threat resulted in the pilot declaring a level four security alert, a signal that the crew were concerned about a breach of the cockpit.
Officials at Hartsfield-Jackson International Airport redirected Flight 2539 into a remote area of the runway Sunday afternoon while an investigation took place. The flight departed from Columbus, Ohio, around 2:30 pm.
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The Atlanta Police Department described the suspect as an “unruly passenger” and not a legitimate hijacker. The case is being handled by the FBI.
The passenger has not yet been identified. It is not clear what charges he will face.
A passenger in Row 10 of the aircraft called the situation “stressful” when speaking to WSB-TV.
“The flight attendants started saying, ‘Heads down, hands up, heads down, hands up,’” another passenger, Jessica Kinder, said.
Kinder went on to say that she was sitting beside the suspect’s travel partner and said the pair were exchanging voice messages in French.
“He kept standing. The pilot told him, flight attendants, to sit down. He said that he was going to threaten or kill the flight attendants,” said another passenger, Keyaira Smith. She said the man had been acting erratically before they boarded the flight in the Buckeye State.
“As a matter of precaution and in coordination with local authorities, the aircraft parked at a remote location while law enforcement responded,” Frontier said in a brief statement.
Around the same time of this incident, Atlanta officials were called to a non-credible bomb threat at the State Farm Arena in the city.
