The man accused of threatening to blow up a United Airlines flight to Louisiana with a bomb before storming the cockpit has been identified.
Rony Alexander Gomez-Alberto, 34, was arrested on Monday night after allegedly threatening to blow up United Flight 2174 as it made its way to New Orleans.
US Immigration and Customs Enforcement announced that Gomez-Alberto, an illegal immigrant from Honduras, had allegedly attempted to storm the cockpit, prompting a hijack alert.
‘Americans should NEVER have to face threats like this, especially from an illegal alien who should have been in our country in the first place,’ the agency wrote.
Gomez-Alberto had been removed from the US twice before the incident on Monday, ICE claimed.
Officials told the New York Post that he had been deported in September 2011 in Texas and again in October 2014 in New Mexico.
DHS said Gomez-Alberto returned to the US in 2019 for a third time near California’s San Ysidro border town and was arrested again before a judge freed him from ICE custody in January 2020 pending removal proceedings, the outlet reported.
He had previously been accused of making a felony bomb threat, felony threat- terroristic state offenses and disorderly conduct, DHS told the Post.
Rony Alexander Gomez-Alberto, 34, was arrested on Monday night after allegedly threatening to blow up United Flight 2174 as it made its way to New Orleans
US Immigration and Customs Enforcement announced that Gomez-Alberto, an illegal immigrant from Honduras, allegedly attempted to storm the cockpit, prompting a hijack alert
Flight UA2174 took off from Newark International Airport at 9.27pm EST on Monday and touched down at Louis Armstrong New Orleans International Airport at 11.16pm CST.
But, during the flight, pilots called a 7500 alert which specified that there was a Level 4 alert onboard, meaning there was an attempt or actual breach of the cockpit, according to aviation content creator Aaron Rheins.
Gomez-Alberto, who was said to speak ‘no English,’ allegedly announced that he had a bomb in a backpack mid-flight, which prompted the alert, according to Air Traffic Control audio reviewed by Rheins.
Air traffic control audio revealed that the disruptive passenger ‘changed into all black before he started trying to reach the cockpit.’
After the terrifying alert, he was put in the back of the aircraft and seated with crew before the flight safely landed.
United Airlines confirmed the incident with the Daily Mail, stating that ‘law enforcement met the aircraft upon arrival.’
The passenger was arrested following the incident, a spokesperson with the Jefferson Parish Sheriff’s Office told the Daily Mail on Tuesday.
All the other passengers were safely deplaned and transported to the terminal, the agency said.
Gomez-Alberto, who was said to speak ‘no English,’ allegedly announced that he had a bomb in a backpack mid-flight, which prompted the alert
The man, later identified as Gomez-Alberto, was arrested without incident and has been booked in the Jefferson Parish Correctional Center for communicating false information of planned arson and terrorizing, the department stated.
Gomez-Alberto is being held without bail at the Jefferson Parish Correctional Center, authorities told the Post.
There were 49 passengers and six crew members on board the Boeing 737 MAX 9, an airline spokesperson said.
