Radio error sends false-alarm hijack signal from airliner
Posted: 06:25 PM ET
MIAMI, Florida (CNN) — A cockpit error created a situation Monday in which air traffic controllers thought an American Airlines flight headed for Miami had been hijacked, the airline said.
The flight crew accidentally flipped a switch that put the plane’s radio on the wrong channel, the airline said. The 148 passengers and crew onboard American Flight 535 from San Juan, Puerto Rico, were never in any danger, and it was not clear whether any of the passengers knew what was happening until the 737-800 landed at Miami and police went on the aircraft.
“The transmitter was accidentally put on the wrong frequency,” said American Airlines spokeswoman Andrea Huguely. “The regular frequency and the frequency for a hijacking are right next to one another, and the transponder was placed on the wrong frequency,” Huguely told CNN.
The mishap caused a complicated security plan to kick in, as law enforcement personnel responded to what they thought was an in-flight hijacking. Two fighter jets were scrambled from Homestead Air Reserve Base, and police and fire-rescue units flooded the tarmac.