Passenger arrested at Armstrong airport after bomb claim aboard United flight from Newark
The Jefferson Parish Sheriff's Office booked a 34-year-old man on charges of communicating false information of planned arson and terrorizing after Flight 2174 landed safely on Monday night. Federal authorities identified him on Tuesday and lodged an immigration detainer.
NEW ORLEANS: A passenger who told crew members he had a bomb aboard a United Airlines flight from Newark was arrested without incident on Monday night after the flight landed safely at Louis Armstrong New Orleans International Airport, the Jefferson Parish Sheriff's Office said.
The sheriff's office said the man, 34, began behaving erratically as the evening flight went on and told crew members, according to their account, that a bomb was on board. The airplane, a Boeing 737 MAX 9 carrying 46 passengers and six crew members, landed safely, and deputies took the man to the Jefferson Parish Correctional Center, where he was booked with communicating false information of planned arson and terrorizing.
United Airlines gave a short account of the arrival. "United flight 2174 from Newark to New Orleans landed safely following a disruptive incident involving a passenger onboard," the airline said. "Law enforcement met the aircraft upon arrival." United referred further questions to local authorities.
A hijack code on the way in
On the way into New Orleans, the pilots set the aircraft transponder to 7500, the code that signals unlawful interference, as the jet descended through 20,000 feet, according to aviation reporting on the flight. In a message sent to other United flights, the crew described what had happened in the cabin: "We had an attempted level four, no other details are known at this time." A level four threat is an attempted or actual breach of the cockpit.
Local accounts said the crew persuaded the man to move to the back of the aircraft, and aviation reporting said he was at the back of the cabin, sitting with crew members, when the flight reached its gate. The sheriff's office gave the Associated Press no further details on Tuesday, and it did not name the man in that account.
Federal identification and a detainer
The Department of Homeland Security identified the passenger on Tuesday as Rony Alexander Gomez-Alberto, a 34-year-old Honduran national who authorities said was living in the Bronx. A DHS spokesperson said Immigration and Customs Enforcement lodged a detainer for him with the Jefferson Parish Sheriff's Office on November 10, 2026, "after he attempted to gain entry to the cockpit during a flight."
DHS said Border Patrol agents apprehended Gomez-Alberto after he entered the United States without authorization near El Indio, Texas, in September 2011 and again near Columbus, New Mexico, in October 2014, and that he was removed from the country after both encounters. Border Patrol arrested him a third time in 2019, after an attempted entry near San Ysidro, California. He then spent time in ICE custody before a judge's order freed him in January 2020 while his removal case was still pending, DHS said.
The federal statement described his record in different terms from the parish booking. Where the sheriff's office booked him with communicating false information of planned arson and terrorizing, DHS listed offenses including a felony bomb threat, a terroristic threat, and disorderly conduct. He remains in custody without bond, according to authorities.
The Federal Aviation Administration said it plans to investigate the incident. The FBI has said the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Eastern District of Louisiana will decide whether Gomez-Alberto faces federal charges. The charges booked in Jefferson Parish are allegations, and he has not been convicted in connection with the flight.
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