Passengers on a Delta Air Lines flight from San Francisco to New York had a bit of an unusual arrival at John F. Kennedy International Airport last night, after someone called in a bomb threat, saying there was a bomb on the arriving plane.
The alleged threat brought out a huge police response last night around 8:15 p.m., reports CBS New York, with emergency alarms sounding throughout the airport.
Whoever called in the threat apparently chose to ring up another airline to report it, instead of calling Delta directly. The flight in question has two legs with two different planes involved– one from San Francisco to JFK, which was the subject of the threat, the other from JFK to Tel Aviv, which was preparing to board at the time.
That flight was re-screened but ended up leaving only about 50 minutes after its scheduled departure time for Tel Aviv.
The plane from San Francisco with 171 passengers was moved to a remote area of the airport, where people then deplaned to allow for K-9 unites and cops to swarm it.
The all-clear was sounded after all luggage taken from the plane was re-screened.
And if you’re thinking that the experience made for a bit of a scary time, yes, having your stuff searched by bomb-sniffing dogs without really knowing what’s going on is unsettling.
“I was quite nervous, but I think everyone did a really good job at communicating, and you know, getting us our belongings and whatnot,” one passenger told CBS.
Another girl said police didn’t say what they were doing, just moving around the plane with the dogs and searching.
“They were going up and down every aisle, like searching everyone’s bags,” one girl said.
The FBI is now investigating the threat.
Police Swarm JFK After Alleged Bomb Threat Directed At Landing Delta Flight [CBS New York]
by Mary Beth Quirk via Consumerist