Rony Alexander Gomez‑Alberto, a Honduran national, was arrested by the Jefferson Parish Sheriff’s Office after United Airlines Flight 2174 landed at Louis Armstrong New Orleans International Airport on Nov. 9 following a midair disturbance, local reporting cited by Fox News said.
The Department of Homeland Security told Fox News that Gomez‑Alberto had been deported from the United States twice previously and that Immigration and Customs Enforcement lodged a detainer for him on Nov. 10, 2026.
DHS said Gomez‑Alberto was accused of attempting to enter the cockpit after allegedly claiming to have a bomb during the flight. The agency separately listed bomb‑threat, terroristic‑threat and disorderly‑conduct offenses in its statement to Fox News.
According to DHS, Border Patrol apprehended Gomez‑Alberto after an illegal entry near El Indio, Texas, in September 2011 and again near Columbus, New Mexico, in October 2014; he was removed from the country following both encounters. DHS said Border Patrol arrested him again in 2019 after an attempted entry near San Ysidro, California, and that ICE released him in January 2020 after an immigration judge ordered his release pending removal proceedings.
Local reporting citing the Jefferson Parish Sheriff’s Office said Gomez‑Alberto was booked on charges of communicating false information of planned arson and terrorizing. United Airlines confirmed to Fox News that Flight 2174 from Newark to New Orleans landed safely after a disruptive incident and said law enforcement met the aircraft on arrival.
United identified the aircraft as a Boeing 737 MAX 9 carrying 46 passengers and six crew members and referred additional questions to local authorities. “Under President Trump and Secretary Mullin, criminal illegal aliens are NOT welcome in the United States,” a DHS spokesperson told Fox News.
Jon Ross Myers is the executive editor and publisher of the Mississippi News Network, Mississippi's largest digital only media company. He can be reached at editor@tippahnews.com
