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Threatened US flight diverted
A domestic Continental Airlines flight enroute to the US capital was diverted to North Carolina today after a threatening message was discovered scrawled on the bathroom mirror, US officials said.
A domestic Continental Airlines flight enroute to the US capital was diverted to North Carolina on Wednesday after a threatening message was discovered scrawled on the bathroom mirror, US officials said.
It was the second flight diversion in as many days, following a Delta Airlines flight enroute from Paris to Atlanta, Georgia that was forced to make an unscheduled stop in Maine Tuesday after a passenger became "disruptive."
Local and federal law enforcement agents with bomb-sniffing dogs rushed aboard Continental Airlines flight 3006 when it landed at an airport near Greensboro, North Carolina, Wednesday at 10:43 am (1443 GMT).
Officials are "monitoring a situation where a threatening message was written on a lavatory mirror," the federal Transportation Security Administration said in a statement.
"Out of an abundance of caution the flight was diverted to Piedmont Triad International Airport Greensboro," spokesperson Lauren Gaches said.
"The plane taxied to a remote location where it was met by law enforcement."
The plane was an Embraer passenger jet en route from Houston, Texas to Dulles International Airport outside the US capital.
"The plane is landed without any problem, without incident in Greensboro," said FAA spokeswoman Arlene Salac, who refused to confirm any bomb threat as "TSA is dealing with that for security reasons."
US aviation officials have been on edge since a young Nigerian passenger on December 25 allegedly tried to blow up a Detroit-bound plane by detonating explosives he smuggled aboard in his underwear.
