WASHINGTON, Nov 4 (Reuters) - The Federal Aviation

Administration on Tuesday halted traffic at Reagan Washington

National Airport after a reported threat against a United

Airlines plane.

The FAA said operations were halted after a reported security

issue and passengers have been taken off the plane, and the

aircraft is away from the terminal while authorities

investigate.

A person briefed on the matter said a threat had been made

against the plane and in an abundance of caution the plane was

being checked.

United referred questions to the FBI. The FBI did not

immediately respond to a request for comment.

Reagan Airport is just 5 miles from the White House and

U.S. Capitol and the FAA imposes special security restrictions

around the airspace.

FlightRadar24, a flight tracking site, said the issue was

prompted by an unconfirmed threat against a United flight that

had arrived from Houston and added the airport was preparing to

reopen just before 1 p.m. ET.

More than 160 flights have already been delayed at Reagan,

according to FlightAware.

(Reporting by David Shepardson in Washington; additional

reporting by Rajesh Kumar Singh in Chicago Editing by Franklin

Paul and Chizu Nomiyama )