USA: Suspicious Item Grounds Southwest Airlines Flight At Louis Armstrong Int'l Airport

A suspicious item was found on a Southwest Airlines plane at the Louis Armstrong International Airport, officials with the airline told WDSU.

The incident was reported shortly before 7 p.m. on a Southwest Airlines flight headed to Phoenix, Arizona. The plane was scheduled to depart at 7:30 p.m.

Southwest Airlines officials said the pilots notified local authorities after the suspicious item was discovered. The plane was cleared of any security threat Thursday night.

Officials said passengers on the plane will board a different one to Phoenix.

The incident isn't the first to ground a flight at the airport in 2015. In May, a suspicious note was found on a United Airlines flight headed to New Orleans. The FBI was called in to investigate, and no threat was found for passengers on board.

Airport authorities were notified in June of a suspicious statement on an airplane's lavatory door after it departed Washington Reagan National Airport. The plane landed in New Orleans, and officials cleared it of any security threat.