A US Airways flight from Paris to Charlotte, North Carolina, was diverted to an airport in Maine where it landed safely after reports of a passenger showing “suspicious behaviour”, US officials said yesterday.
Two fighter jets were scrambled in response to the incident on US Airways flight 787, which landed safely in Bangor, Maine.
House homeland security chairman Peter King said a woman passenger, who was a French citizen born in Cameroon, handed a note to a flight attendant saying she had a surgically implanted device on her person.
“Doctors on the flight checked her out and did not see any sign of recent scars. The woman was born in Cameroon, was travelling alone without any checked baggage. She was visiting the US for 10 days,” Mr King said.
The Transportation Security Administration said in a statement that it was “aware of reports of a passenger who exhibited suspicious behaviour during a flight” and was questioning the passenger.
The Boeing 767 aircraft was carrying 179 passengers and nine crew members. – (Reuters)