United flight turned around after report of passenger making a terroristic threat

A United Airlines flight was sent back to Las Vegas shortly after departing over the weekend due to an allegation of a passenger making a terroristic threat, according to police. The incident occurred during a Saturday night flight headed to Newark, New Jersey. A 25-year-old passenger was detained and subsequently arrested on charges related to making a threat or providing false information concerning an act of terrorism.

The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) reported that the flight crew had indicated a "passenger disturbance" on the flight. An attorney for the individual did not respond to requests for additional information, and his initial court appearance is set for Tuesday. The scheduled overnight flight returned to the airport less than an hour after taking off, as per Flightradar24 data.

United Airlines confirmed that the flight, which carried 150 passengers, returned safely to Las Vegas to handle a "potential security concern." The flight was delayed overnight and departed for Newark the following morning. The FAA stated that it would investigate the incident and acknowledged that there have been over 1,400 unruly passenger incidents reported in 2026.