Warning of Bomb Diverts Flight

A Southwest Airlines flight headed from Orange County to Las Vegas on Wednesday morning was diverted to Ontario International Airport after at least one passenger found a message scrawled on a tray tabletop warning of a device aboard.

No bomb was found in the Boeing 737 aircraft or in luggage after a search by dogs, airport authorities and the FBI. Authorities spent several hours interviewing the 136 passengers and five crew members.

The plane was parked at a remote location about 9:50 a.m. and the airport’s operations continued normally, airport spokeswoman Maria Tesoro-Fermin said.

Southwest flight 2219, which originated in San Jose, left Orange County’s John Wayne Airport at 8:55 a.m.

Once the plane reached cruising altitude, a passenger pulled down the seatback tray and saw “language warning of a bomb,” said FBI spokeswoman Laura Eimiller.

The agency did not release the exact wording.

At least one other similar message was found on a tray table, Eimiller said, but she didn’t know whether it had been found by passengers or investigators.

It wasn’t clear how long the messages had been there. Southwest flight attendants typically clean the planes between flights during tight turnarounds.

The incident is under investigation, Eimiller said, and no suspects have been identified.

Most passengers were being returned to Orange County by bus in the late afternoon or flown to Las Vegas, Southwest spokeswoman Beth Harbin said.

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Times staff writer Jennifer Oldham contributed to this report.