United flight to Los Angeles diverted after security issue; passenger details chaos

CHICAGO (KABC) -- A United Airlines flight to Los Angeles from New Jersey was diverted Wednesday morning after a security issue, according to the Federal Aviation Administration.

The FAA said Flight 1533 landed safely at O'Hare Airport in Chicago at about 7:40 a.m. local time after the crew reported the issue. The Boeing 787 left from Newark Liberty International Airport and was headed to Los Angeles International Airport.

The more than 200 passengers had to get off the plane after the incident.

Law enforcement and airline sources initially said a passenger on the flight physically tangled with crew members and others on the flight.

But one of the passengers told our sister station WLS-TV in Chicago that he didn't see any altercation and didn't notice anything strange until he received a notification on his watch that the flight was being diverted.

He was later told there had been a bomb threat. The FBI later determined the threat was unfounded.

"They were really adamant that everybody stay in their seats. They were starting to shout at passengers..," said Richard Fickling. "When we landed, they told us that somebody had written a bomb threat on a mirror in a bathroom, but I didn't hear anything about an unruly passenger."

Authorities say no imminent threat was found. The passengers were eventually boarded on another plane due to arrive in L.A. around 3 p.m.

Further details about the incident were not immediately available.

Our sister station WLS-TV in Chicago contributed to this report.