United hijacking claim: Man arrested after alleged bomb threat on New Orleans flight

A man has been arrested at Louis Armstrong New Orleans International Airport after allegedly telling crew members he had a bomb on board United Airlines Flight 2174, a hijacking-related disturbance that prompted the aircraft to land safely on Monday night, 9 November. The suspect, identified by authorities as Rony Alexander Gomez-Alberto, 34, was taken into custody by the Jefferson Parish Sheriff's Office.

What happened on the flight

The Boeing 737 MAX 9 was travelling from Newark, New Jersey, to New Orleans with 46 passengers and six crew members. Deputies said Gomez-Alberto began acting irrationally aboard the aircraft at around 11:20 p.m. local time and told crew he had a bomb on board.

United said the flight landed safely after a disruptive incident involving a passenger and that law enforcement met the aircraft on arrival. Passengers were deplaned and taken to the terminal. Deputies said Gomez-Alberto was arrested without incident.

According to the Daily Mail, the pilots issued a hijacking alert after the bomb claim. That detail has not been independently confirmed by the sheriff's office.

Cockpit entry attempt and immigration history

The Department of Homeland Security said Gomez-Alberto was accused of attempting to enter the cockpit during the flight. DHS described him as a Honduran national who had been removed from the United States twice, after illegal entries near El Indio, Texas, in 2011 and near Columbus, New Mexico, in 2014. Border Patrol arrested him again in 2019 after an attempted illegal entry near San Ysidro, California.

DHS said Immigration and Customs Enforcement lodged a detainer against him on 10 November. It also said an immigration judge ordered his release in January 2020 pending removal proceedings. These immigration details come from DHS and have not been independently verified.

Charges and reactions

Jefferson Parish Correctional Center booked Gomez-Alberto on charges of communicating false information of planned arson and terrorizing, according to deputies. DHS separately listed bomb threat, terroristic threat and disorderly conduct offenses in its statement. The charges are accusations, and no court has ruled on them.

DHS spokespersons said criminal illegal aliens are not welcome in the United States. United referred further questions to local authorities, and the sheriff's office had not responded to a request for comment at the time of reporting.

What we know so far

The core facts are that a flight from Newark landed safely in New Orleans after a passenger was accused of claiming a bomb on board, and that a man was arrested on arrival. The cockpit entry allegation, the pilots' hijacking alert and the immigration history are reported by DHS and news outlets but are not confirmed by an official court record. Further details are expected from the Jefferson Parish Sheriff's Office.

Earlier, a Fox News Digital report noted that a passenger had described the incident as a drunken joke, a claim that appeared in a headline linked from that report and was not verified in its text.