A case of mistaken identity sparked an international alert as Canadian and US jet fighters accompanied an Air India flight believed to be carrying a suspicious passenger into New York.
The passenger, who authorities did not identify except to say he was British, was released by authorities soon after he was escorted off Air India Flight 101 when it landed at New York's John F Kennedy International Airport yesterday evening.
"He was released just moments ago. He is of no investigative interest to the FBI," an FBI spokesman said.
A government official said a screener in London thought one of the passengers aboard the Air India flight looked like someone on a watch list. The list includes photographs of suspicious people and was developed after September 11th.
The screener was less clear about the identification when interviewed by authorities, but it prompted the United States and Canada to scramble jet fighters, which intercepted the airliner 200 miles off the US coast.
Passengers aboard the flight said they did not notice anything unusual until the airliner carrying 378 passengers and 19 crew members landed and taxied to a remote section of the airport.