In a surprising incident on Monday, a flight destined for Los Angeles had to make an unscheduled landing. The pilots of the aircraft mistakenly believed there was an attempted cockpit breach after flight attendants knocked on the locked door, trying to communicate due to a malfunctioning communication system.
SkyWest flight 6569, which had just taken off from Eppley Airfield in Omaha, Nebraska, declared an emergency and returned to the airport around 7:45 p.m. local time. According to a statement from the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA), the emergency was declared when the pilots lost contact with the cabin crew.
This American Airlines flight, operated by SkyWest, had barely covered 40 miles when it was forced to head back to the Omaha airport.
The FAA clarified in their statement that the issue stemmed from a malfunction in the inter-phone system, leading to the flight crew resorting to knocking on the cockpit door for communication.
SkyWest has yet to issue a comment regarding the incident.
Upon safe landing, the captain offered an apology to the passengers for the unexpected turn of events.
“We weren’t sure if something was going on with the airplane, so that’s why we’re coming back here,” the captain said. “It’s going to be a little bit. We have to figure out what’s going on.”
Video footage of the flight shows police officers boarding the plane after the emergency landing, as police vehicles approached on the tarmac.
