Bomb Threat Grounds Two Planes At JFK Airport
A Delta plane was evacuated and another one searched at John F. Kennedy Airport in New York on Monday night after a bomb threat was called. Authorities have since given the all clear.
According to NBC News, a law enforcement official said there was no evidence to suggest that the threat was real, but authorities followed protocol in such cases.
Delta Flight 468 refers to routes from San Francisco to JFK and from JFK to Tel Aviv. Another airline received an anonymous bomb threat for the flight number, said Lindsay McDuff, a spokeswoman for Delta Airlines. The person reported that an explosive device was on board, suggesting it might be a pipe bomb, sources told NBC News.
The police spokesman for the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey, Joe Pentangelo, stated that the flights were checked and cleared by authorities.
“All clear at JFK airport following earlier bomb threat to Delta flight,” the FBI’s New York office said on Twitter.
The threat was said to have been made while the plane was still in the air.
Pentangelo stated that after landing, the plane was taken to a remote part of the runway and swept for explosives. And passengers were taken by bus to the main terminal, where they would be interviewed.
The plane, which arrived from San Francisco, was a Boeing 757 with 171 passengers, and the one scheduled to fly to Tel Aviv, Israel, was a Boeing 777 with 215 passengers.
Austen Holman, 29, of New York, said she was on the San Francisco flight and that passengers had “no clue” there was a problem until the plane landed.
“The captain, as calmly as he possibly could, said, ‘We have some bad news. There’s been a threat on this plane,'” she stated.
Holman said passengers had to leave everything on board when they were evacuated, including carry-on bags. They were allowed to take their phones, but forbidden to use the devices until they arrived at the terminal.
“For the most part, everyone remained pretty calm,” she said.
Another arriving passenger, Andrew O’Boyle, said everything was going smoothly until the plane landed. Then the plane was surrounded.
“It’s really quite surreal when something like that happens. You don’t know how you’re going to react or everyone around you is going to react,” he told ABC News.
“I’m just happy everything went smoothly and we’re all safe.”
Bomb threat on flight Delta 468 from SFO to JFK. pic.twitter.com/sznXb42Y6m
— Neil Collier (@NeilCollier) January 20, 2015
situation on the runway at JFK: plane surrounded by fire and medical, passengers are walking across the Tarmac pic.twitter.com/i3oifGnLcm — Ben (@bgkornblum) July 13, 2014
We’re all being held safely on heated buses away from the plane. Port authority police came aboard bus, was a bomb threat #delta468 #JFK
— Casey Neistat (@CaseyNeistat) January 20, 2015
Emergency landing for #delta468. Thank you welcoming committee for rolling out the sirens and red carpet. pic.twitter.com/PCtAfZJNiz — Richie (@GreenbergRichie) January 20, 2015
[Image via Mashable]
