Christie Misses Campaign Event After Plane Fiasco

By Kara Seymour/Patch

A commercial plane carrying first-in-the-nation presidential primary candidate Gov. Chris Christie, R-NJ, was searched and delayed for nearly four hours Friday after an unnamed threat, a Fox affiliate reports. Christie was forced to reschedule a New Hampshire campaign event scheduled for later in the day due to the fiasco, NJ.com reported.

United Airlines Flight 1108 was supposed to depart San Francisco Friday morning, but as the crew was preparing for take off, passengers were notified they were returning to the gate for “operational difficulties,” sources told FOX25.

The governor’s office confirmed a passenger was removed from Christie’s plane before takeoff “at the request of United Airlines.” The statement said the governor did not interact with the passenger, and said he or she did not pose a verbal or physical threat to the governor.

The governor’s office directed all other inquiries about the matter to United Airlines.

In a statement, an airport spokesperson said the person removed from the plane was taking photographs of female flight attendants, which caused “discomfort.”

Christie is still expected to make other events in New Hampshire tomorrow including a Stratham event at 9:30 a.m. and another event in Windham at 2:30 p.m.