New England-bound flight diverted to Jacksonville after ‘perceived security threat’

Flights

Breeze Airways said an argument between two passengers bound for Providence escalated and resulted in a perceived threat.

A Providence-bound flight was diverted to a Florida airport Tuesday afternoon after an argument between two passengers reportedly escalated into a perceived threat.

According to the Federal Aviation Administration, Breeze Airways Flight 717 was en route from Orlando to Rhode Island’s TF Green International Airport when the flight crew reported a “passenger disturbance.” In a statement, Breeze Airways explained that an argument between two passengers escalated and resulted in a “perceived threat to safety.”

According to local television station News4JAX, a couple on the flight got into an argument shortly before takeoff. The news outlet reported that the word “bomb” eventually came up during their discussion, prompting the captain to divert the plane to Jacksonville about 45 minutes into the flight.

“The guy said, ‘I’ll tell people you have a bomb in your bag,’” Rachel Corrigan, a passenger on the flight, told Florida station Action News JAX. “And she said, ‘I’ll tell them you have guns.’”

According to the FAA, the flight landed safely at Jacksonville International Airport around 6 p.m. Tuesday.

In his statement, Breeze said local authorities met the plane upon arrival and safely disembarked all passengers and crew. Video clips shared by Action News JAX show police officers removing two handcuffed people from the plane.

Breeze said it provided overnight lodging to affected passengers and the rescheduled flight arrived in Providence on Wednesday.

“Security is our top priority and we take threats of any kind very seriously,” the airline said. “We are committed to assisting authorities in their investigation of this incident.”

The FAA confirmed it will investigate the incident and referred further investigations to local authorities. Boston.com has reached out to the FBI’s Jacksonville office for comment.