Police stormed a JetBlue flight after the pilot accidently sent a false hijack code to air traffic control Tuesday at John F. Kennedy International Airport in New York, The Daily Mail reported.
Passengers sat terrified in their seats as SWAT members stormed the grounded Los Angeles bound flight, directing travelers to keep their hands in the air as they searched the plane.
Meanwhile, outside on the tarmac dozens of police vehicles and firefighters surrounded the plane, preventing it from reaching the terminal.
The frenzy arose from a simple radio code error.
According to the New York Post, the pilot was experiencing issues with the inflight radio, but when he tried to alert JFK's tower, he accidently keyed in the code that signaled a hijacking.
Because he was unable to communicate with air traffic control due to a faulty radio, authorities assumed that the flight was being held hostage and reacted.
"That brought everyone and their mother out to the tarmac," a law enforcement source told the New York Post. "Most people (cops and firefighters on the scene) have never responded to a hijacking, other than in training."
Sources told the New York Daily News that at one point the pilot held up a piece of paper with his cell number on it so that he could talk to police about what was going on.
JetBlue spokeswoman Paula Acevedo confirmed the incident, noting that "authorities responded in an abundance of caution" and that "the aircraft was cleared and returned to the gate for inspection."
The Federal Aviation Administration said in a tweet that the flight experienced a "radio problem while taxiing for departure" at JFK at around 8 p.m. Tuesday.
"The crew asked to return to the terminal. The #FAA will investigate," the post read.
Passengers documented the incident on social media.
The incident comes a day after passengers on a Spirit Airlines flight were jolted when a woman became hysterical and started yelling and swearing at travelers and flight attendants, claiming she had been to hell and back "10 times."
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