Drunk woman said she had bomb on Southwest plane at Dallas Love Field: police

Passengers were deboarded from a plane and multiple areas of Dallas Love Field were evacuated after a drunk Florida woman claimed she had a bomb in her suitcase, according to an arrest warrant affidavit charging her with making a terroristic threat.

Dallas police were called about 5:50 p.m. on Tuesday to the airport at 8008 Herb Kelleher Way, where they concluded that a woman had made terroristic threats, prompting them to evacuate a flight, the affidavit obtained by Star-Telegram media partner WFAA-TV stated.

The woman, 67-year-old Rebecca Phillips, was on a plane that was scheduled to fly from Dallas to Orlando, Florida. Due to her intoxicated state, she was escorted off of the Southwest Airlines flight before the plane taxied, Dallas police wrote in the warrant.

Once at the gate, Phillips requested that her bag be taken off the plane, according to the affidavit. The plane was still at the gate and the doors were still open. Southwest employees told her she had to pick up her luggage at the location she was flying to.

Phillips told them that that was illegal, according to the affidavit. She said, “Well, there’s a bomb in it. How about that? Can you take it off now?”

Police then made the decision to deboard the flight, delaying it by two to three hours, according to the affidavit. They evacuated the gate, the lobby adjacent to the gate, a cafe and a bar in the airport. Two flights at gates 8 and 12 also diverted.

Phillips’ bag was cleared after going through an X-ray machine and a thorough search, the affidavit stated, and no bomb was found.

Phillips is now facing a third-degree felony charge and is in custody at the Lew Sterrett Justice Center.