LHR-DC Flight Diverted to Boston Due To Passenger Bruhaha

[PhilDernerJr]

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/14375133/

"A female passenger aboard United Flight 923 had Vaseline, a screw driver, matches and a note referencing al-Qaida, according to Phil Orlandella, spokesman for Boston's Logan International Airport."

The United 767 was escorted by two scrambled F-15s.

Although, an official has said that there is no terror link, so maybe the above quote isn't accurate.

[Mellyrose]

Bruhaha....hahahah!

[RDU-JFK]

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20060816/ap_ ... t_diverted (http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20060816/ap_on_re_us/flight_diverted)

Check out the photo in this link...I didn't know Midwest Express codeshares MD-80s for United on London-DC flights!! :wink:

[moose135]

From the link in Mel's post:

Fighter jets escorted a London-to-Washington, D.C., flight to Boston's Logan airport Wednesday after the pilot declared an emergency because an apparently claustrophobic passenger caused a disturbance, a federal official said.

The federal security official said there was no indication of terrorism and denied reports that the woman had a screw driver, matches and a note referring to al-Qaida.

The female passenger aboard United Flight 923 said she was claustrophobic and became very upset and got into some kind of confrontation with the flight crew, said George Naccara, federal security director for the Transportation Security Administration for Massachusetts' airport.

The disturbance — coming just a week after authorities in London said they foiled a terror plot to blow up trans-Atlantic flights — was enough to concern the pilot to issue an alert, which activated two fighter jets to escort the flight into Logan, Naccara said.

Naccara said he did not believe any items she was carrying were the cause of the outburst. An airport spokesman previously said the woman was carrying Vaseline, a screw driver and matches, but backed off the statement, and Naccara said it wasn't true.

"I don't know what she had on board with her, but we have been told she did not have a screw driver, she did not have any liquids such as vaseline, and any notebook she may have had, it did not contain an al-Qaida reference," Naccara said. "This is still playing out, of course."

"There was speculation in the beginning of all those items, but those have been proven untrue," he said. He said he had no information about matches.

[Mellyrose]

Mel's post? lol....I'm sandwiched in between 2 links, but I had none. :P

[moose135]

Mel's post? lol....I'm sandwiched in between 2 links, but I had none. :P

Oops, sorry...guess I mis-read that, it's from RDU-JFK's post. :oops:

[Nonstop2AUH]

Had to research something on tsa.gov for a client this afternoon and found the following statement with a sort of banner that says "Currently there is no known connection to terrorism with this event. "

News & Happenings
August 16 - Statement On United Flight 923

United flight 923, originally scheduled from London-Heathrow to Washington-Dulles diverted to Boston-Logan because of a disruptive passenger. We can confirm the passenger had hand cream and matches. The flight was escorted by fighter jets and landed safely at approximately 10:20 a.m. Upon landing, the flight taxied to a remote part of the airport and passengers were deplaned and transported to Terminal E. All baggage has been removed from the plane. Both checked baggage and the aircraft are being inspected by TSA-certified explosive detection teams. Local, state and federal law enforcement officials are on the scene interviewing the disruptive passenger at this time.

As more information becomes available, this message will be updated

[Nonstop2AUH]

It is now being reported that the passenger in question originated in DXB, which might have made the crew extra touchy about the situation.