Spirit Air Flight Evacuated After Bomb Scare At Ft. Lauderdale Airport
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FT LAUDERDALE (CBSMiami) - A scare for passengers onboard a Spirit Airlines flight from Ft. Lauderdale-Hollywood International Airport to Dallas-Ft. Worth.
Flight 971 was scheduled to take off at 8:15 p.m. but was delayed for hours after an apparent bomb scare.
According to a recording from the pilot to air traffic control, a passenger received a message about a bomb threat and turned off the phone.
Autumn Lynn, a passenger on the flight, posted on Facebook as the situation unfolded.
"This is your captain speaking. We have a security issue and we're coordinating with the fire department right now. Please remain calm, they're going to do a scan of the plane and check to make sure everyone is safe," the pilot can be heard saying over the one of the videos.
Lynn said a man sitting near her was the one who sent up the alarm. He had glanced at another passengers cell phone as was surprised by what he saw.
"He leaned over and saw, text messages that said your bombs are complete, he stood up and started screaming to the flight attendant there's a bomb on a plane," said Lynn.
The flight attendant immediately seized the cell phone and alerted the captain as what was going on.
The man reportedly to the flight attendant, "go ahead and open my phone and everyone started screaming because they think the phone is going to set off the bomb," said Lynn in one of the videos.
Deputies removed both the man who had the message on his phone and man who spotted it from the plane. Both were interviewed by the FBI. No arrests were made.
Lynn said she and other passengers were eventually evacuated to the terminal.
The plane was searched and eventually the all clear was given. Passengers then re-boarded and it was allowed to take off.