Language barrier and fear of suspicious activity delay Delta flight 3290 to Detroit from Washington

ROMULUS, Mich. (WXYZ) - A flight from Washington's Reagan National Airport to Detroit returned to the gate because of fear of suspicious activity on board. Four passengers were removed, cleared by security officials and rebooked on another flight.

The incident happened around 1:00 p.m. Friday. Delta Flight 3290 has since landed in Detroit after a significant delay.

FBI officials explained to 7 Action News that the flight had been sitting on the tarmac at Washington, D.C.'s Reagan National Airport for some time prior to it's expected take off. While waiting, the FBI says a man asked to use the plane's restroom. Confusion followed due to a possible language barrier.

The man that went to use the restroom was traveling with three others. All were removed and questioned by security teams. They were cleared and then booked onto another flight.

On Twitter, a man identifying himself as Jason Kelly from Hillsdale tweeted from the plane when it was still in Washington . At one point, he counted fourteen security officials on the plane and said that four men had been removed from the flight.

Sources confirmed to 7 Action News that four people were removed.

The flight is operated by Pinnacle Airlines. The company released the following statement about the incident.

On Friday, 6/8, a federal law enforcement officer on board Pinnacle flight 3290 (Reagan National Airport ( DCA) to Detroit Wayne County ( DTW) observed a group of 4 passengers behaving suspiciously prior to pushing back from the gate for taxi. After reporting the behavior to the flight crew, the Captain made the decision not to push back from the gate out of an abundance of caution. All passengers were safely de-planed and the TSA has re-screened the aircraft. The suspicious passengers were questioned by law enforcement and removed from the flight. Passengers were re-boarded and the aircraft and has departed for DTW.

Stay with 7 Action News and WXYZ.com for more on this developing story.