Twice-Deported Illegal Immigrant Accused of Trying to Storm United Airlines Cockpit With Bomb Threat

A bomb threat aboard a United Airlines flight on Monday, November 9, ended with the arrest of a twice-deported Honduran national in New Orleans.

Rony Alexander Gomez-Alberto was arrested at Louis Armstrong New Orleans International Airport by the Jefferson Parish Sheriff’s Office (JPSO) after the plane touched down late Monday night, according to a story published by the Daily Mail on Tuesday, November 10.

The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) described the suspect, 34, as a “criminal illegal immigrant” from Honduras, per a report by local Fox affiliate WVUE. He allegedly claimed to have a bomb on board, per DHS, and attempted to storm the cockpit, prompting the hijack alert.

“United Flight 2174 from Newark to New Orleans landed safely following a disruptive incident involving a passenger onboard,” the airline said in a statement to Fox News, noting there were 46 passengers and six crew members aboard the flight.

According to DHS, Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) lodged a detainer for Gomez-Alberto after his airport arrest, indicating the federal agency’s intent to assume custody of him.

If ICE moves to deport Gomez-Alberto from the United States, Fox News reported it would be the third time the federal government has deported him. According to a statement from DHS, per Fox News, Gomez-Alberto was apprehended and deported by Border Patrol near El Indo, Texas, in September 2011 and again near Columbus, New Mexico, in October 2014.

In 2019, he was reportedly arrested near San Ysidro, California, after an attempted illegal entry, per the New York Post. An immigration judge reportedly ordered his release in January 2020 pending removal proceedings.

DHS posted on X that Gomez-Alberto has a criminal history including “felony bomb threat, felony threat — terroristic state offenses, and disorderly conduct.”

“Americans should NEVER have to face threats like this, especially from an illegal alien who should [not] have been in our country in the first place,” said ICE in a statement to the Daily Mail.

Gomez-Alberto was booked into the Jefferson Parish Correctional Center on charges of communicating false information of planned arson and terrorizing, where he is being held without bond, per the Post.