Panic on plane after pilot mistakes noise outside cockpit as someone trying to break in

A flight from Nebraska to Los Angeles made a quick turnaround just a few kilometres from the airport on Monday, after the pilot heard noises outside the cockpit and thought someone was trying to break in.

SkyWest flight 6569 took off 10 minutes early from from Omaha’s Eppley Airfield, leaving at 6:23 p.m. local time, according to information from FlightAware.com.

However, ABC and other news reports say there was a malfunction in the plane’s intercom system that meant flight attendants could not contact the cockpit, which was locked as is standard practice on flights.

Unable to reach the cockpit by intercom, they started banging on the cockpit door. The captain, hearing that sound and unable to reach the cabin crew from his end, declared an emergency and returned to the Omaha airfield, landing just 36 minutes after takeoff.

The plane, an Embraer ERJ 175 with a capacity of about 80 passengers, was still climbing and was only about 65 kilometres from the airport at an altitude of about 10,000 feet when it turned around.

Video shared with ABC News showed police cars outside the plane after it landed, and police officers boarding the plane. One of them asks: “Everybody’s OK?” A passenger replies: “We don’t know what’s going on but we’re OK.”

A SkyWest Airlines flight from Omaha to Los Angeles returns to Eppley Airfield after pilots mistake flight attendants banging on the cockpit door for a break-in attempt.#Omaha #LosAngeles #SkyWest pic.twitter.com/4eRGTl51mX

— Al Arabiya English (@AlArabiya_Eng) October 21, 2025

The captain is then heard on the cabin intercom, apologizing for the sudden return. “We weren’t sure if something was going on with the airplane so that’s why we’re coming back here,” he says. “It’s going to be a little bit. We’re going to have to figure out what’s going on.”

A statement from the Federal Aviation Administration said: “After landing, it was determined there was a problem with the inter-phone system and the flight crew was knocking on the cockpit door.”

The airport in Omaha posted on social media that “there was no security related incident at Eppley Airfield this evening.” It directed any questions to American Airlines, which contracts SKyWest for some regional flights.

American Airlines told National Post: “SkyWest flight 6469, operating as American Eagle from Omaha to Los Angeles on Monday night, returned to Omaha out of abundance of caution after experiencing communication issues with a flight crew mic. The flight later continued to Los Angeles. We apologize for the inconvenience.”

News reports said the plane was able to take off again about three hours later.

There was no security related incident at Eppley Airfield this evening. For any questions regarding AA 6469, please contact American Airlines Media Relations at mediarelations@aa.com.

— Eppley Airfield (@OMAairport) October 21, 2025

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