American Regional Flight Evacuated On Taxiway For Security Threat (Updated)

An American Eagle regional crew ordered an emergency evacuation of their E175 as soon as they were off the runway at La Guardia on Saturday, citing “passenger behavior.” The flight was operated by Republic Airways and the crew declared an emergency as it approached New York. Police met the plane on a taxiway and arrested one man. The Hill is reporting the crew was concerned the passenger had “a device” but police didn’t find anything threatening. In fact, they subsequently found no evidence of criminality.

There were 78 passengers and four crew on board. “One of our aircraft, operating as American 4817, declared an emergency and landed at New York’s LaGuardia Airport without incident in response to passenger behavior near the end of the flight,” Jon Austin, a spokesperson for Republic Airways, said in a statement. “Upon exiting the active runway, the aircraft stopped on a taxiway and conducted a precautionary emergency evacuation.” The action was taken in response to complaints from fellow passengers that the man arrested was behaving suspiciously.