“RuPaul’s Drag Race” star Jimbo – also known as James Insell – was evacuated from an airplane this weekend after the United Airlines flight from Chicago to New York City was forced to perform an emergency landing in Pittsburgh following a “potential security concern.”
While airline officials refused to specify details surrounding the security breach, multiple news outlets later reported that passengers on board, including Jimbo, feared that the Saturday, April 18 flight had been grounded due to supposed “bomb scare.”
‘Drag Race’ Winner Safe After ‘Really Scary’ Emergency Landing
“It was so terrifying!” Jimbo told Entertainment Weekly following the incident, which the “RuPaul’s Drag Race: All Stars” Season 8 winner also relayed to her fans through her Instagram Story.
Online, she described the emergency landing as “really scary” and thanked fans for “all the messages and all the love” she received in the aftermath.
According to a United Airlines spokesperson, the flight from Chicago to New York City “landed in Pittsburgh” on Saturday in order “to address a potential security concern.”
Once the plane had landed safely at Pittsburgh International Airport (PIT), “passengers evacuated the aircraft safely via slides” before boarding a second flight to New York City at around 4:24pm local time.
No injuries were reported amongst the 159 passengers and six crew members on board.
Jimbo Recalls Harrowing Mid-Flight Call to ‘Brace’
GettyJimbo revealed to EW, however, that passengers were actually instructed to de-plane before ever leaving the tarmac in Chicago, though they were eventually given permission to re-board before taking off for NYC.
Part-way through their journey, Jimbo reported: “Randomly, all of a sudden, the pilot was like, ‘Okay when we command you to brace, everyone needs to brace. Practice your brace position right now.”
“We all start bracing, I start praying,” added the star, who got her start on the first season of “Canada’s Drag Race” before becoming one of the few international drag artists to be invited back to compete on the “All Stars” version of the U.S. flagship series.
Once the flight had safely landed in Pennsylvania, Jimbo recalled: “Everybody is clapping because everyone thought we were dying.”
“As soon as people clapped for five seconds, they’re like, ‘Run, run, run, go, go, go!’ So everyone starts running for the exits,” she added. “I was literally run out onto the wing – had to just hop out onto the wing. They’re like, ‘Run,’ I’m like, ‘Where […] do I run?”
The queen recalled “everyone screaming” as they rushed away from the aircraft. Jimbo herself can be seen fleeing the scene in broadcast news coverage of the incident shared by ABC News.
Pittsburgh Law Enforcement Debunks Bomb-Threat Rumors
The outlet later reported that pilots ordered the emergency landing after hearing “sequential beeping” onboard. The FBI’s Pittsburgh division subsequently released a statement revealing that they’d sent bomb techs to investigate the scene.
The Allegheny County Police Bomb Squad later told the station that its EOD and K9 units conducted a sweep of the “plane, passengers, and luggage with negative results.”
