USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
A Florida flight was grounded over the weekend due to a bizarre set of circumstances.
On Sunday, it was reported that a flight taking off from Miami International Airport was grounded after passengers threatened to take over the aircraft from flight attendants on board.
“We have a customer disturbance on board right now with threats coming from customers,” the pilot said in the recording. “We want to go into a lockdown protocol.”
JUST NOW: Multiple passengers onboard Alaska Airlines flight 305 at Miami International Airport have threatened the flight attendants, including one saying they are going to take over the aircraft.
The plane, headed to Seattle, never took off and has returned to the gate. pic.twitter.com/X0b1Nw82Hg
— Andy Slater (@AndySlater) August 9, 2026
After the plane returned to the gate, police investigated the matter and found no credible threat on the flight.
Via 13NewsNow
Miami-Dade Sheriff’s Office Airport District deputies responded to the gate and investigated. Out of an abundance of caution, all passengers were temporarily deplaned while deputies assessed the situation.
The investigation determined there was no credible threat, the sheriff’s office said, according to CNN affiliate CBS Miami.
According to reporter Andy Slater, a passenger on the plane alerted authorities after mistakenly believing they had read a threatening text message from someone sitting in front of them.
One passenger on the plane saw two people in front of him exchanging text messages with one reading “I’m taking everyone down,” a senior aviation official tells me.
That passenger told the flight attendant, who then told the captain.
It was quickly revealed that the text messages were about something completely different, not the aircraft.
SLATER SCOOP: One passenger on the plane saw two people in front of him exchanging text messages with one reading “I’m taking everyone down,” a senior aviation official tells me.
That passenger told the flight attendant, who then told the captain.
It was quickly revealed that… https://t.co/RcOGmRwWau
— Andy Slater (@AndySlater) August 10, 2026