A United Airlines airplane at Newark Liberty International Airport (EWR) was temporarily grounded and declared a crime scene on Tuesday afternoon after a single bullet was discovered in an overhead bin.
The Boeing 737 (registration: N37456) was due to operate United flight UA-1511 from Newark to Miami. Departure was set for 2:07 pm on February 17, but the plane ended up being grounded after the unusual discovery.
Security teams were called in to investigate and carry out a full sweep of the aircraft before passengers were allowed to board. In the end, the flight departed nearly three hours late at around 5 pm on Tuesday.
It remains a mystery how the bullet came to be in the overhead bin, although the incident will raise further questions about the effectiveness of the Transportation Security Administration (TSA) in preventing threats to aviation.
In a statement, United Airlines simply stated: “Security personnel cleared the aircraft, which later departed for Miami.”
Last November, a Frontier Airlines plane at Atlanta Hartsfield-Jackson International Airport was evacuated at the gate when a passenger discovered a loaded handgun magazine on the floor of the cabin.
The magazine contained ten hollow-point rounds, according to the Atlanta Police Department.
In the immediate aftermath of the discovery, the police K-9 units, along with the TSA, Homeland Security, and officials from Atlanta’s Department of Aviation, were scrambled as all the passengers were deplaned.
Officers carried out a sweep of the airplane, and all the passengers were rescreened by the TSA before being allowed back on board. In the end, the aircraft departed with a delay of nearly three hours.
Firearms and ammunition are banned from aircraft cabins, but over the last few years, the TSA has foiled some interesting attempts by passengers to conceal these items in carry-ons.
In March 2025, for example, the TSA stopped a passenger at Newark who tried to hide 16 bullets concealed within layers of aluminum foil.
And in May 2024, a convicted felon was busted trying to smuggle three handguns and 204 bullets in checked luggage by wrapping them in multiple layers of foil-backed tape before placing them in a metal briefcase, which was lined with sheets of metal in an attempt to confuse the airport x-ray machines.
One passenger at New York JFK even attempted to sneak a semi-automatic handgun and a clip of bullets through TSA security by submerging them in pots of Jif peanut butter.
Most incidents are, however, foolish mistakes, although it’s often these incidents that go undetected. While this normally goes unnoticed on domestic flights, these mistakes can have huge ramifications for international travelers.
In 2024, the State Department issued an urgent warning to American visitors to the British Overseas Territory of the Turks and Caicos Islands, where multiple US citizens had been arrested after airport security discovered ammunition in their carry-ons as they were flying out.
The travelers had gotten the ammunition past TSA security in the United States undetected and weren’t even aware that the bullets were in their bags.
