A flight from Charlotte, North Carolina, bound for Minneapolis, Minnesota, was forced to return to Charlotte-Douglas International Airport shortly after takeoff on Monday night as a result of an unspecified security threat.
According to WBTV 3 News in Charlotte, American Airlines confirmed that Flight 1865 had experienced an "undisclosed security threat" that required it to be grounded.
The Airbus A321 landed in Charlotte shortly after 9 p.m. ET, after spending a little more than 20 minutes in the air. Local police were on the scene to investigate the threat but ultimately gave the plane the all-clear after deeming it not credible.
According to CBS Minnesota, the plane, which was headed to Minneapolis-St. Paul International Airport, remained grounded in Charlotte as of late Monday night.
"The pilot got on the air and said to disarm the exit doors. And then he said 'Hurry, quickly!' And that kind of freaked us all out," passenger Joanie Gamoke told CBS Minnesota. "We had to stand finger tips apart and then they brought in dogs to sniff each one of us."
The flight's 180 passengers were put on a new plane overnight and landed in Minneapolis early Tuesday morning.
Details surrounding the threat remain unclear, however federal investigators are still on the case.
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