Listen
Southwest Airlines had to ground a plane at Hobby Airport today after a flight attendant on board received a threatening note. Local authorities have now cleared the plane and say they found no explosives on board.
Southwest Flight 21 was in route to Houston from Dallas Love Field when a passenger handed a note indicating a threat to the plane to a flight attendant. An FBI spokesperson told the Associated Press the note announced a bomb on the plane. Southwest Airlines Hobby Manager Rudy Lopez says the pilot alerted the airline at about 12:20 this afternoon.
The plane was grounded on a far outlying runway at Hobby Airport. All 136 passengers and five crew members were evacuated. Houston Police, local FBI agents and officials from the TSA are conducting the investigation. Bomb dogs from HPD’s canine unit were brought in to inspect the plane. Right now it’s unclear whether the note was placed on board during a previous flight or if the person who wrote it was on board. Lopez says the passenger who turned in the note is not necessarily a suspect, although everyone on board was detained for questioning. No bomb was found on board and the plane has been cleared for service.
