Yet another unnecessary security scare caused by a hysterical paranoid flight attendant

http://www.nydailynews.com/news/2007/07/12/2007-07-12_flight_diverted_to_jfk_after_security_sc.html

Breaking News

Flight diverted to JFK after security scare

Plane from L.A. to London makes unexpected stop in New York

By PAT MILTON

THE ASSOCIATED PRESS

Thursday, July 12th 2007

A flight from Los Angeles to London was diverted to New York early

Thursday because a passenger was believed to have breached security.

Within hours, federal officials dismissed the possibility of

terrorism.

A flight attendant on the American Airlines plane became concerned

that a passenger might not have gone through proper security screening

before boarding the London Heathrow Airport-bound flight at Los

Angeles International Airport Wednesday evening, said airline

spokeswoman Sonja Whitemon.

The flight attendant had seen the male passenger ride to the terminal

on an employee bus and bypass security, as employees are able to do,

Whitemon said.

After talking to the passenger, flight crew members decided they

needed to divert the plane to New York's John F. Kennedy International

Airport to search the cabin and re-screen the 230 passengers, in

keeping with standard security procedures, she said.

The incident appeared to have "no nexus to terrorism," the

Transportation Security Administration said in a statement.

Authorities were questioning the passenger Thursday morning at JFK,

officials said.

Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff told CNN the passenger

may have been an airline worker traveling for pleasure, but Whitemon

said she could not confirm whether the passenger was an airline

employee.

The plane landed at JFK at about 3:30 a.m., said Alan Hicks, a

spokesman for the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey, which

operates the airport.

The flight was later canceled because the unplanned stop ended up

exhausting the crew's allowed flight time, and passengers were

transferred to other flights, Whitemon said.

The flight scare came amid renewed anxieties about potential terrorist

attacks.

Chertoff said this week he had a "gut feeling" that the United States

faced a heightened risk of attack this summer.

Numerous government officials have said they know of no specific,

credible threat of a new attack on U.S. soil.

I know you would be bitchin' if the plane blew up!

"When is this B.S. going to end?" <whenwill@this.bs.end> wrote in

message news:avkc93lo344sar3eqo5upq25fvj653jogc@news...

> http://www.nydailynews.com/news/2007/07/12/2007-07-12_flight_diverted_to_jfk_after_security_sc.html

> Breaking News

>

> Flight diverted to JFK after security scare

>

> Plane from L.A. to London makes unexpected stop in New York

>

> By PAT MILTON

> THE ASSOCIATED PRESS

>

> Thursday, July 12th 2007

>

>

> A flight from Los Angeles to London was diverted to New York early

> Thursday because a passenger was believed to have breached security.

> Within hours, federal officials dismissed the possibility of

> terrorism.

>

> A flight attendant on the American Airlines plane became concerned

> that a passenger might not have gone through proper security

> screening

> before boarding the London Heathrow Airport-bound flight at Los

> Angeles International Airport Wednesday evening, said airline

> spokeswoman Sonja Whitemon.

>

> The flight attendant had seen the male passenger ride to the

> terminal

> on an employee bus and bypass security, as employees are able to do,

> Whitemon said.

>

> After talking to the passenger, flight crew members decided they

> needed to divert the plane to New York's John F. Kennedy

> International

> Airport to search the cabin and re-screen the 230 passengers, in

> keeping with standard security procedures, she said.

>

> The incident appeared to have "no nexus to terrorism," the

> Transportation Security Administration said in a statement.

>

> Authorities were questioning the passenger Thursday morning at JFK,

> officials said.

>

> Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff told CNN the passenger

> may have been an airline worker traveling for pleasure, but Whitemon

> said she could not confirm whether the passenger was an airline

> employee.

>

> The plane landed at JFK at about 3:30 a.m., said Alan Hicks, a

> spokesman for the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey, which

> operates the airport.

>

> The flight was later canceled because the unplanned stop ended up

> exhausting the crew's allowed flight time, and passengers were

> transferred to other flights, Whitemon said.

>

> The flight scare came amid renewed anxieties about potential

> terrorist

> attacks.

>

> Chertoff said this week he had a "gut feeling" that the United

> States

> faced a heightened risk of attack this summer.

> Numerous government officials have said they know of no specific,

> credible threat of a new attack on U.S. soil.

>

>

Frank Arthur wrote:

> I know you would be bitchin' if the plane blew up!

Actually, probably not - at least not if I were ON it!

>

>

> "When is this B.S. going to end?" <whenwill@this.bs.end> wrote in

> message news:avkc93lo344sar3eqo5upq25fvj653jogc@news...>