Aviation Accidents and Incidents Aviation Safety & Regulation Airlines United Airlines

United flight grounded at Newark after bullet found; aircraft declared crime scene

A United Airlines flight at Newark was grounded after a bullet was discovered in an overhead bin, prompting authorities to declare the aircraft a crime scene and open a security investigation. Passengers were held while law enforcement and airport security processed the jet.

Discovered 2026-02-18T09:33:20.757197-08:00 | 2026-02-18T09:33:20.757197-08:00

Briefing

What Hype is tracking

Immediate law-enforcement response: the aircraft was declared a crime scene and grounded at Newark, requiring police processing and likely passenger delays; similar multi-agency security responses have followed threats against aircraft recently (source:85f9b034-517a-40c3-b164-5e3b3b81cd43).
Operational impact on a major hub: on-airport crime-scene investigations occupy gates, ground-handling and security resources and may cause network delays or aircraft substitutions — United has experienced recent unscheduled returns and groundings at Newark (source:7bdfdcbd-1e0f-4b03-a498-a2f8b19478d3).
Regulatory and safety implications: discoveries of firearms or ammunition onboard trigger coordination among TSA, FAA and local law enforcement and can prompt formal investigations or policy reviews (source:530b0728-1e47-4365-a84b-4b577ed3a31d).

Reported By

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