Bomb threat terrifies passengers and grounds United flight for several hours

A bomb threat found in a plane lavatory Sunday grounded a Vermont-bound flight for several hours, NBC News reports.

Flight 3613 from Newark was scheduled to land at Burlington International Airport at 4:30 p.m. Sunday with 65 passengers aboard.

The flight crew notified air traffic control of the threat around 20 minutes before landing, airport spokesperson Nic Longo told reporters at a news conference.

“A flight attendant just came up and said that a passenger found a note ... that said there was a bomb on board,” the pilot is heard saying in audio obtained by NBC affiliate WPTZ.

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The threat that led to the flight being diverted to a “specific location” where authorities “assessed the situation,” Longo said.

Authorities determined the threat to be without merit after K-9 units were brought aboard to sweep the plane.

"It was scary," Melissa Jones, a passenger on United Airlines flight 3613, told NBC News. "I had to stay calm because of my kids."

The Vermont State Police Bomb Squad, Burlington police, South Burlington police, the Department of Homeland Security and the FBI were involved in the response.