Police presence surrounds a JetBlue flight at JFK 'because the cockpit is not communicating'

Terrified passengers hold their hands up as armed police storm a JetBlue plane after the pilot used a WRONG code and 'mistakenly told air traffic control the flight was being HIJACKED'
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A JetBlue pilot accidentally told air traffic control that his plane had been hijacked on Tuesday, sparking a massive police presence
Dozens of Port Authority police surround a JetBlue flight at JFK airport on Tuesday evening preventing the aircraft from getting near the terminal
Department of Homeland Security and the FBI were said to be on the scene
The FAA released a statement saying the aircraft 'experienced a radio equipment problem while taxing for departure at John F. Kennedy International Airport'
It was later determined that the aircraft experienced a broken radio and the pilots stopped communicating with air traffic controllers

Published: 21:09 EDT, 26 June 2018 | Updated: 23:08 EDT, 26 June 2018

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A JetBlue pilot accidentally told air traffic control that his plane had been hijacked, sparking a massive police response at John F. Kennedy International Airport in New York.

The pilot had apparently told controllers that the aircraft was having radio issues, but used the code to signal a hijacking, the New York Post reports.

The incident led to dozens of Port Authority police and firefighters surrounding JetBlue flight 1623 around 8pm on Tuesday stopping it from getting near the terminal.

A spokeswoman for JetBlue called the incident a 'false alarm'.

'Shortly before departure, Flight 1623 from New York JFK to Los Angeles experienced a radio issue impacting the crew's ability to communicate and a false alarm was sent to JFK tower,' she said in a statement.

'While communication was reestablished via alternate channels, authorities responded in an abundance of caution. The aircraft was cleared and returned to the gate for inspection.'

A massive police presence was reported at John F. Kennedy International Airport in New York on Tuesday night

The cockpit had stopped communicating with tower officials sparking dozens of officers to respond

Passengers shared pictures to Twitter of themselves with their hands in their air as armed guards stormed the plane

A Port Authority spokeswoman said the plane 'was inspected and cleared with no security threat', the Post reports.

It was reported earlier Tuesday night police responded after the cockpit had stopped communicating with tower officials.

Department of Homeland Security and the FBI were said to be on the scene.

The Federal Aviation Administration released a statement saying the aircraft 'experienced a radio equipment problem while taxing for departure at John F. Kennedy International Airport'.

The LAX-bound flight departed the gate just before 7.30pm but never left the ground.

'The crew requested to return to the ramp. The FAA will investigate,' the statement continued.

It was later determined that the aircraft experienced a broken radio but air traffic controllers initially feared that the plane might have been hijacked after the pilots stopped communicating.

About 30 minutes into the incident, dozens of police had the plane surrounded.

Terrified passengers tweeted photos from inside the aircraft saying they were told to put their hands in the air as armed guards searched the plane.

'Woah. My worst nightmare. JFK to LAX right now, honestly thought we were going to die,' tweeted passenger Alexa Curtis. 'I AM ALIVE THANK GOSH I MEDITATE U GUYS what is going on'.

Curis, a blogger from California, later tweeted that the incident was 'traumatizing'.

She said hundreds of people are now stuck at JFK trying to figure out to get to Los Angeles, where the JetBlue flight was headed.

Another passenger, Tony Schwartz, tweeted that ten 'heavily armed guards' stormed the flight. The plane was stuck on the runway for an hour-and-a-half before it was towed back to the gate.

The aircraft was eventually cleared and no one was in danger.