Air France escorted to JFK - Inflight threat

 

Air France flight to New York subject of anonymous threat

• 10 minutes ago
• From the section US & Canada

The Air France plane was searched in a secure area of JFK airport after landing safety in New York

A pair of US fighter jets has escorted an Air France airliner bound for New York City after the flight was the subject of an anonymous threat.

US officials said they had received a call claiming that there was a "chemical weapons threat" aboard the plane.
Air France Flight 22, from Paris, was searched after landing in a secure area of JFK Airport.
The FBI said later that no hazards had been found and the plane was cleared.
An anonymous call was made to a Maryland State Police barrack at 06:30 local time (10:30 GMT) on Monday and the FBI was immediately told.

The caller said four flights were affected but only named the Air France flight. A Saudi Airlines flight that had recently landed at JFK was also searched.
Although the threat was not considered credible, two F-15 planes were scrambled as a precautionary measure, joint US-Canadian monitoring force Norad said.
According to ABC News, the planes followed the Air France A-330 jet into US airspace but out of sight of passengers and crew.
The plane was later searched in a secure area of the airport.