I always think I am OK with flying until I am moments away from takeoff. The second I settle in my seat, my mind runs through the what-ifs of flying, and by the time I land, I’m practically making out with the tarmac. And truthfully, had I experienced what the 119 passengers of United Airlines Flight 380 recently did, I don’t think I’d set foot on a plane again.
A flight bound for Chicago out of Dallas had to make an emergency landing in St. Louis on November 16, 2025, after a passenger claimed his wife was hiding a bomb aboard the plane, according to People. United Airlines informed the magazine in a statement that law enforcement inspected the aircraft before continuing to Chicago. According to KSDK, investigators used bomb-sniffing dogs to canvas the plane.
The St. Louis Metropolitan Police Department told People that the Federal Bureau of Investigations arrived to also investigate the validity of the claim. The passenger who made the terrifying statement was allegedly “unwieldy” and was arrested shortly after, the New York Post reported.
In a statement, United Airlines confirmed that all passengers arrived to their Chicago destination safely.
“United flight 380 from Dallas to Chicago landed safely in St. Louis to address a potential security concern,” the airline proclaimed in its statement. “Law enforcement searched and cleared the aircraft. The flight took off from St. Louis earlier this afternoon and has since landed in Chicago.”
This unsettling event is just the latest in a string of threats that have come into various airlines throughout the month.
On November 3, Frontier Airlines found a note in the bathroom that alluded to a bomb being on a plane at Dallas-Fort Worth Airport and held the aircraft on the tarmac until the FBI officially determined it was a noncredible threat, per CBS News Texas.
On November 4, United Airlines grounded a flight from Houston at Washington’s Reagan National Airport after receiving a bomb threat. The caller demanded $500,000 in cryptocurrency, per the Associated Press. The FBI searched the plane but thankfully found no threat. That same day, a Delta flight was evacuated at LaGuardia after crew members reported a security concern, Aviation A2Z reported.
It’s important to note that this isn’t a “new trend” in the United States at all. Even all the way back in 1974, there were 397 reported bomb threats and four bomb explosions within the year, according to the US Department of Justice.
