A security scare aboard a Southwest Airlines flight departing Nashville Friday night ended without charges after federal investigators determined there was no credible threat.
The incident involved Southwest Flight 2094, which was traveling from Nashville International Airport (BNA) to Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood International Airport (FLL) when it was diverted to Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport (ATL) following a reported passenger disturbance.
According to the Federal Aviation Administration, Flight 2094 departed Nashville around 7:15 p.m. ET on Friday. Roughly an hour into the flight, the crew diverted to Atlanta due to what officials described as a disturbance involving a passenger.
The plane landed safely in Atlanta, where officers with the Atlanta Police Department (APD) boarded the plane and removed a male passenger. Video shared on social media with the caption “Bomb threat on Nashville flight”showed armed APD officers entering the cabin as passengers were instructed to keep their heads down and hands raised while the situation was addressed.
BREAKING:@SouthwestAir Southwest Airlines Flight 2094 from Nashville to Fort Lauderdale, Florida was forced to divert to Atlanta late last night after a an Arabic looking Muslim passenger onboard the plane threatened to blow the plane up with a bomb!
You can see the SWAT team… pic.twitter.com/5YI8DDxCHK
— Laura Loomer (@LauraLoomer) March 7, 2026
According to the New York Post, the Federal Bureau of Investigation and APD have since confirmed that the man taken off the flight was not charged and, “There was no credible threat.”
A Brentwood family aboard the flight told outlet WSMV they first realized something was wrong when flight attendants began quickly moving through the aisles, however, were only told at the time that the aircraft would be making an emergency landing.
Passengers remained on the plane on the Atlanta tarmac for more than 90 minutes while authorities investigated. Travelers were eventually asked to exit the plane one row at a time as a canine unit inspected luggage.
Afterward, passengers were transferred to another plane and continued their trip to Fort Lauderdale, arriving just before 3:30 a.m. on Saturday, roughly five hours later than scheduled.
As of Saturday, the determination as to why the plane was forced to make an emergency stop remained unclear and conflicting reports about the moments leading up to the decision remain unclarified.
While some passengers on the plane reported that the man who was taken off the flight was visibly upset that his baggage was too big to fit under the seat in front of him and began texting someone “threats,” which was noticed by another passenger who alerted the flight crew, Florida outlet NBC 6 reported “NBC News said the incident was a misunderstanding, and that the passenger had set a timer on his phone so that he can pray for Ramadan.”
In a statement, Southwest Airlines said it had apologized to customers and emphasized that safety remains its top priority.
The family that spoke to WSMV reported receiving $200 travel vouchers from the airline as compensation for the disruption.
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Kaitlin Housler is a reporter at The Tennessee Star and The Star News Network. Follow Kaitlin on X / Twitter.
Image “Bomb Threat” by Laura Loomer.
