Man accused of bomb threat on United flight was deported twice, FNC reports

A man who reportedly made a bomb threat on a flight bound for New Orleans and tried to storm the cockpit was reportedly deported twice from the U.S. 

Authorities said the incident happened Tuesday on a United Airlines flight from Newark, New Jersey, to New Orleans. The Department of Homeland Security identified the suspect as 34-year-old Rony Alexander Gomez-Alberto, according to Fox News Digital.  

Bomb threat on United flight

What we know:

According to the Jefferson Parish Sheriff’s Office, the suspect started acting irrationally late in the evening during the flight and reportedly told crew members that he had a bomb. 

According to DHS, he also tried to enter the cockpit. 

The plane was able to land safely at Louis Armstrong New Orleans International Airport, and the man was arrested without incident.

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He was taken to the Jefferson Parish Correctional Center and booked with communicating false information of planned arson and terrorizing, the sheriff’s office said. 

The airplane was a Boeing 737 Max 9 carrying 46 passengers and six crewmembers.

Suspect was deported twice 

Dig deeper:

DHS confirmed to Fox News that Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) lodged a detainer for Gomez-Alberto Tuesday after his arrest.

"On November 10, 2026, ICE lodged a detainer for Rony Alexander Gomez-Alberto, a criminal illegal alien from Honduras, with Jefferson Parish Sheriff’s Office after he attempted to gain entry to the cockpit during a flight," a DHS spokesperson told Fox News.

According to DHS, Gomez-Alberto was detained by Border Patrol after illegally entering the United States near El Indio, Texas, in September 2011 and again near Columbus, New Mexico, in October 2014. He was removed from the U.S. both times. 

In 2019, Border Patrol arrested him again after an attempted illegal entry near San Ysidro, California.

The Source: This report includes information from The Associated Press, the Jefferson Parish Sheriff’s Office and Fox News Digital.