Two planes traveling between Honolulu and southern California were diverted due to safety concerns, one for a bomb threat, another for a “security concern” found written on a bathroom mirror.
United flight 1169 left Daniel K Inouye international airport at 9.40pm on Tuesday night, headed for Los Angeles international airport. Data from FlightAware shows the airplane reversing course east of Hawaii, and headed back to Honolulu.
United gave slim details in a written statement, and stated that all 339 passengers and 10 crew members made it back to Honolulu, and were rebooked on later flights.
“United flight 1169 from Honolulu to Los Angeles returned safely to Honolulu after a potential security concern was found written on a lavatory mirror,” a United spokesperson said. “Law enforcement met the aircraft, and a security sweep was conducted.”
Hawaiian Airlines flight 15 was scheduled to depart from San Diego at about 8.30am Tuesday morning, but delayed takeoff due to a bomb threat onboard. Harbor police issued a statement saying that they had arrested 35-year-old military member John Stea in relation to the threat.
All 293 people onboard were safely deplaned, and the flight landed in Honolulu after a cumulative five-hour delay, according to FlightAware.
