A flight en route to Los Angeles had to make an emergency landing on Monday due to a misunderstanding involving its cockpit security. The pilots believed there was an attempt to breach the cockpit after flight attendants knocked on the door following a failure in the plane’s communication system.

SkyWest flight 6569, which had just departed, returned to Omaha’s Eppley Airfield around 7:45 p.m. local time. This decision was made after the pilots declared an emergency due to their inability to reach the cabin crew, as confirmed by the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) in a statement.

Updated: Oct 21, 2025 / 10:29 AM EDT

(The Hill) — A Los Angeles-bound flight made an emergency landing on Monday after its pilots mistakenly thought someone was trying to breach the cockpit when its flight attendants banged on the locked door because the plane’s communication system went down.

SkyWest flight 6569 returned to Eppley Airfield in Omaha, Nebraska, at approximately 7:45 p.m. local time, “after declaring an emergency when the pilot could not contact the cabin crew,” the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) said in a statement.

The American Airlines flight, operated by SkyWest, traveled less than 40 miles before returning to the Omaha airport.

“After landing, it was determined there was a problem with the inter-phone system and the flight crew was knocking on the cockpit door,” the FAA said in its statement.

SkyWest did not respond to an immediate request for comment.

The captain apologized to the passengers after landing.

“We weren’t sure if something was going on with the airplane, so that’s why we’re coming back here,” the captain said. “It’s going to be a little bit. We have to figure out what’s going on.”

Video footage of the flight shows police officers boarding the plane after the emergency landing, as police vehicles approached on the tarmac.