'Suspicious' Activity Aboard Spirit Jet? Someone Watching News on a Phone

Four people were taken off a Chicago-bound plane subsequently evacuated at Baltimore-Washington International Airport Tuesday morning, but they were released without charges and the plane took off four hours later.

Sgt. Jonathan Green, a spokesman with the Maryland Transportation Authority, told the Baltimore Sun the ”suspicious activity” noticed by a fellow passenger, which put the crew on alert and forced the plane to return to the gate, was someone watching a news report on a cell phone.

“Everything added up to create a situation where she felt concerned,” Green said. “Everything was done in the interest of safety.”

Spirit Airlines flight 969, destined for O’Hare International Airport, had just left the gate when a woman and child got up from their seats and headed for the back of the plane as it was taxiing, according to a WJLA reporter aboard.

The 6 a.m. takeoff was delayed and four people with backpacks — three men and a woman — were removed from the plane at the captain’s request, WJLA reported.

A Chicago Tribune reporter met passengers as they arrived at baggage claim at O’Hare late Tuesday morning.

Jenna Farella said she sat in the same row as three of the passengers removed from the flight.

“You have no idea, I want to kiss the ground right now,” she said.

Several passengers told the Tribune two of the people taken off the flight appeared to be of Middle Eastern descent.

After the plane was evacuated, luggage was removed from the aircraft and investigated by a bomb-sniffing K-9 on the tarmac, according to WBAL’s Sky Team.

The flight eventually reboarded and took off at 9:27 a.m. Eastern time and arrived at O’Hare shortly after 10 a.m.