An Alaska Airlines flight from Miami to Seattle was briefly disrupted on Sunday after pilots reported that passengers had allegedly made threats to take control of the aircraft during taxiing.

The crew responded by securing the cockpit and returning the aircraft to the gate, where law enforcement officers removed two passengers from the flight. The aircraft was later cleared to continue its journey after the passengers were taken into custody.

The incident involved Alaska Airlines Flight 305, which was preparing for take-off from Miami when the crew reported the disturbance.

Pilots Activate Cockpit Lockdown

According to an exchange between the flight crew and air traffic control published by aviation monitoring outlet Enhanced Radar, the pilots informed controllers that they were dealing with a serious passenger disturbance.

The crew said threats had been made toward flight attendants and requested to follow the airline's lockdown procedure.

The pilot told ground control that the aircraft's parking brake had been set and the engines were being shut down while the crew dealt with the situation.

The pilots subsequently reported that a passenger had allegedly threatened to take control of the aircraft after making the statement to a flight attendant.

Given the nature of the allegation, the crew decided to return to the gate rather than continue the flight.

Two Passengers Removed

Once the aircraft reached the gate, passengers were temporarily asked to leave the plane while authorities responded to the incident.

Two passengers identified by the crew as being involved in the disturbance were removed and taken into custody by law enforcement.

The airline later confirmed that both passengers had been temporarily prohibited from flying with Alaska Airlines.

After the situation was assessed, the remaining passengers were allowed to reboard and Flight 305 eventually departed for Seattle.

Airline Confirms Disruption

Alaska Airlines confirmed that two passengers had behaved disruptively while the aircraft was taxiing on August 9.

The airline said the aircraft returned to the gate, where law enforcement officers met the flight and removed the two individuals.

The carrier stressed that the safety of passengers and crew remained its primary concern and apologised for the delay caused by the incident.

The flight ultimately completed its journey to Seattle.

Police Find No Credible Threat

Despite the seriousness of the initial report, police later determined that there was no credible threat to the aircraft.

The two individuals who had been detained were subsequently rebooked on another flight.

The finding suggests that while the comments triggered an immediate security response, investigators did not establish evidence of an actual attempt or capability to hijack the aircraft.

Why Such Threats Trigger Immediate Action

Threats to seize control of an aircraft are treated extremely seriously because of the potential consequences for everyone on board.

Flight crews are trained to respond to suspicious behaviour and threats by following established security procedures, even when it is not immediately clear whether the threat is genuine.

In this case, the pilots chose to stop the aircraft, secure the cockpit and return to the gate rather than take any unnecessary risk.

The incident also demonstrates how aviation security procedures can cause significant delays even when an initial threat is later found to be unsubstantiated.

For passengers on Flight 305, the disruption ended without further escalation, and the aircraft eventually resumed its scheduled journey to Seattle.