New York-Bound Flights Get Hijack Threats

New York-Bound Flights Get Hijack Threats
February 4, 2005

NEW YORK (Reuters) - Two Delta Air Lines Inc. flights received hijacking threats on Friday, but both landed in New York without incident, federal authorities said.

Delta Flight 119 from Paris, which originated in Bombay, and Delta Flight 81 from Amsterdam were both bound for John F. Kennedy International Airport, said spokesmen for the Transportation Security Administration and the Department of Homeland Security.

At least one of the threats was called into an embassy, the Homeland Security official said, and the caller claimed there were hijackers on board.

It was unclear how the other threat was made.

Both cockpits remained secure during the flights, the TSA said.

An aviation source in Washington said authorities received "non-specific threats" about flights coming to the United States from overseas.

There was no incident aboard either plane, the airline crews followed all proper procedures and there was no attempt to divert either aircraft, the source said.

Port Authority police and the FBI met the planes in New York. No arrests were immediate, but no one was being allowed off the planes until everyone could be questioned, authorities said.

NBC reported that both planes had hijacked threats called in, one through the TSA and the other through a U.S. Embassy.

The television station showed overhead pictures of both planes on the ground being checked out by local and federal law enforcement.

The planes were being held in a confined area at the airport while the investigations were going on.