A plane that was supposed to fly from Seattle to Ketchikan early Saturday morning never took off after a man called in a false security threat, officials said.
One person was in custody after calling in what authorities described as a “false claim of a security threat” while onboard a Ketchikan-bound flight at Seattle-Tacoma International Airport, Sea-Tac aviation communications manager Kate Hudson said in an email.
The “disruptive” male passenger was removed from Alaska Airlines Flight 65 after making the threat, according to Alaska Airlines spokesman Tim Thompson, who said that law enforcement later determined the threat was false.
Thirty passengers and five crew members were onboard the aircraft, Thompson said in an emailed statement Saturday morning. According to Alaska Airlines’ website, the flight was originally scheduled to take off at 7:05 a.m. and land in Ketchikan at 8:11 a.m.
Police from the Port of Seattle responded to the plane around 7:30 a.m. Saturday. The plane didn’t take off and “out of an abundance of caution” was moved to a secure location for further investigation, Hudson said.
Passengers on the flight were interviewed after being deplaned and were being booked on the next flights available, Hudson said.
“The aircraft has been carefully screened and released by security,” Thompson said. “We’ve swapped aircraft and are working to get our guests on their way shortly.”
After the aircraft and its cargo went through a canine inspection, it was returned to Alaska Airlines. The incident didn’t affect Sea-Tac operations, Hudson said.