Shortly after takeoff, the captain experienced a communication system failure with the flight attendants. When a flight attendant began banging on the cockpit door, the captain mistakenly believed there was a hijacking and made an emergency landing. Later, it was discovered to be a false alarm, and apologies were issued to passengers.
According to the New York Post, on the evening of the 20th, American Airlines flight 6469 departed from Omaha Airport in the United States bound for Los Angeles. Less than 40 minutes after takeoff, the plane suddenly returned to the airport. An airline spokesperson stated that the incident was caused by a communications failure with the internal phone system, leading to the flight attendants losing contact with the captain and the captain suspecting a hijacking.
At that time, the captain heard static noise over the intercom system. When the flight attendant began banging on the cockpit door, they mistakenly believed someone was attempting a hijacking, so they quickly turned the plane around and performed an emergency landing.
The U.S. Federal Aviation Administration confirmed in a statement that the captain declared an emergency due to being unable to contact the flight attendants in the cabin and the cabin crew knocking on the cockpit door. Upon landing, it was confirmed to be an internal phone system fault.
After the misunderstanding was clarified, the captain immediately apologized to the passengers. Some passengers recounted that the captain explained via the intercom: “We’re not sure if something unusual happened onboard, so we decided to return to investigate the situation for a short time.”