Flight attendant pulls emergency slide on plane at Texas airport

HOUSTON -- A United Airlines employee has been removed from duties after airline officials said she pulled the emergency slide on a plane.

Flight 1246 from Sacramento landed at Bush Intercontinental Airport in Houston just before noon. Shortly after the aircraft arrived at the gate, the flight attendant reportedly activated the emergency slide and jumped onto it to exit the plane Monday morning.

It's not clear why this was done, but airline officials said they believe the attendant did it intentionally.

There were 159 passengers on board, and a crew of six, including the flight attendant in question. No one was hurt during the incident, officials said.

The plane was taken out of service to be inspected again to meet safety standards. A new slide was installed and then placed back into service once it was cleared.

United Airlines issued the following statement: "We hold all of our employees to the highest standard. The unsafe behavior is unacceptable and does not represent the more than 20,000 flight attendants who ensure the safety of our customers. United is reviewing the matter and they have removed the employee from her flying duties."

The Associated Press contributed to this report.