United flight sends out hijack alert after passenger claiming to have bomb attempts to storm cockpit
A deranged passenger claimed he had a bomb and tried to storm the cockpit of a United Airlines flight out of New Jersey Monday night, prompting pilots to send out a hijacking alert.
New Orleans-bound United flight 2174 carrying 46 passengers and six crew members departed Newark International Airport around 9:30 p.m. before pilots radioed in an attempted breach of the cockpit, a “Level 4” threat alert, according to the airline and Jefferson Parish Sheriff’s Office, local affiliate FOX8 reported.
Level 4 is the highest aviation threat alert used in hijacking situations.
United Airlines confirmed the incident with The Post, and said deputies met the Boeing 737 on its arrival in New Orleans.
Air Traffic Control audio revealed the nutjob – a 34-year-old Hispanic man who “spoke nearly no English” – was detained in the back of the plane after being convinced to head to the rear by the flight crew to allow the aircraft to eventually land safely.
“He changed into all black before he started trying to reach the cockpit,” local authorities are heard in the audio recording.
The intense audio captured officials attempting to coordinate the passengers’ safe exit from the plane, while the aircraft’s pilots stayed locked inside the cockpit.
“We do have the plane empty except for the pilot and [co-]pilot who are locked in the cockpit right now,” a first responder said, according to the recordings.
The Jefferson sheriff’s office identified the wannabe hijacker as New Yorker Rony Gomez-Alberto, 34, local authorities told NOLA.com, adding that he was acting irrationally before falsely warning the crew he had a bomb.
Gomez stayed on the plane trying to negotiate with police before being arrested, local authorities told WDSU News.
The plane’s passengers safely arrived at Louis Armstrong New Orleans International Airport after the incident, landing around 11:15 p.m., according to a United Airlines spokesperson.
Gomez-Alberto was taken into custody after the plane landed, local authorities told the outlet.
He was charged with a count of communication of false information of planned arson and terrorizing, according to the publication.
Gomez-Alberto is being held without bail at the Jefferson Parish Correctional Center, according to authorities.
A Department of Homeland Security spokesperson told The Post that Gomez-Alberto, a Honduran national, tried to illegally enter the United States three times. He was arrested twice for illegally entering the United States – first in September 2011 near El Indio, Texas, and again in October 2014 in Colombus, New Mexico.
He was deported after both attempts, the spokesperson said.
The slippery migrant then made his way back into the US in 2019 through California’s San Ysidro bordern town, before being nabbed a third time by Border Patrol.
But he was freed from ICE custody in January 2020 after a judge ordered his release pending removal proceedings.
ICE lodged a detainer for Gomez-Alberto with local authorities on Tuesday, according to DHS.
The nightmare aboard the aircraft unfolded just weeks after Dante Milne, 25, was arrested for allegedly threatening to take down a United Airlines flight bound for New Jersey.
Milne, a trainee welder from Woodridge who was returning home following a trip to Las Vegas, sent a text: “I’m gonna hijack this bitch and crash ur row only,” according to a criminal complaint.
A flight attendant allegedly saw Milne typing the threatening message about the Oct. 24 flight, causing the aircraft to return to Harry Reid International Airport just 15 minutes after takeoff, the document reads.
Milne told cops he was drunk and joking with a friend when he sent the text, and added the message was poorly worded “banter between coworkers,” according to the arrest report.
Local authorities did not immediately reply to The Post’s request for comment.
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