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JetBlue flight 1623 was lined up on the airport taxiway waiting to depart when it "encountered a problem with radio equipment," the Federal Aviation Administration said in a statement.
The aircraft, which was linked to Los Angeles, sent a hacking code informing air traffic control that there was a security threat on board after the controllers could not get in touch with the pilot, according to a police source who directly knew of the incident.
There is a special code that pilots must choose using the aircraft transponder to indicate such an emergency situation, said the police source.
Alexa Curtis, a blogger who was on the flight, said that she was terrified when she realized that something bad could happen.
The passengers were sitting in the plane while waiting for the plane to take off when they saw the police surrounding the plane. Minutes later, SWAT officers boarded the plane, Curtis said.
"SWAT came and told us to remove our phones and leave our hands in the air," she said.
Authorities inspected the plane and determined that there was no threat to security, said a spokesman for the Port Authority.
Curtis stated that the passengers had not been informed of the incident and that they had been taken away on a new plane once the security forces had left.
In a statement, JetBlue said that "while the communication has been restored via alternative channels, the authorities have reacted with caution."
The FAA and the airline stated that they were investigating the incident.
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