Military Jets Safely Escort Flights to NYC and Detroit After Passengers Made Suspicious Trips to Bathrooms
- Posted on September 11, 2011 at 10:33pm by
Christopher Santarelli
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Fighter jets escorted two flights - one to New York City, another to Detroit - after passengers’ use of the bathrooms aroused suspicions Sunday, the 10th anniversary of the Sept. 11 attacks.
On a Los Angeles-to-New York American Airlines flight, three passengers made repeated trips to the bathroom, officials said. The three were cleared after the plane landed safely at New York’s Kennedy Airport.
Earlier, on a Denver-to-Detroit Frontier Airlines flight, the crew reported that two people were spending “an extraordinarily long time” in a bathroom, Frontier spokesman Peter Kowalchuck said. Police detained three passengers at Detroit’s Metropolitan Airport after the plane landed without incident. They were released after questioning.
Law enforcement sources told ABC News Denver that two of the passengers obtained in Detroit, were “making out” in the bathroom mid-flight, causing the commotion.
In both instances, the FBI said the jets shadowed the planes “out of an abundance of caution.”
New York, in particular, has been in a heightened state of security after federal officials received a credible but uncorroborated tip of a car bomb plot on the 9/11 anniversary in either New York or Washington.
American Airlines spokesman Tim Smith said the plane’s captain never declared a security threat and never asked for law enforcement help. A “security concern” was brought to the airline’s attention, the crew used “normal procedures” to assess the circumstances and the plane landed as planned, Smith said.
“In our eyes, it’s a big nothing,” Smith added.
The North American Aerospace Defense Command scrambled two F-16 jets to shadow American Airlines Flight 34 until it landed safely at 4:10 p.m., the Transportation Security Administration said in a statement.
On the flight, the three passengers made repeated trips to the bathroom and some thought they were using hand signals to communicate, a law enforcement official said. The official was not authorized to speak publicly and spoke to The Associated Press on condition of anonymity. Two of the men were Israeli and one was Russian, the official said, adding that they were cleared and sent on their way.
FBI spokesman J. Peter Donald said in a statement that the jets were sent to escort the flight “out of an abundance of caution.“ The FBI interviewed passengers and found ”no nexus to terrorism,” he said.
A similar scenario played out on Frontier Flight 623.
NORAD spokesman John Cornelio said NORAD sent two F-16 jets to shadow the plane until it landed safely. The craft, with 116 passengers on board, landed without incident at 3:30 p.m. EDT, Kowalchuck said.
The Airbus 318 taxied to a pad away from the terminal, he said. The three escorted off the plane in handcuffs included two men and a woman, passenger Ilona Hajdar of Charlotte, Mich., told The Associated Press.
Authorities cleared the aircraft at 5:15 p.m. EDT after it was searched, the TSA said.
Flight 623 originated in San Diego before stopping at Denver International Airport on its way to Detroit.
In Denver, the FBI said that NORAD scrambled F-16 fighter jets to shadow the plane “out of an abundance of caution.” The plane was searched and nothing was found, the FBI said.
American Airlines passenger Steven Ciobo said nothing seemed amiss on the flight until he saw police lights on the runway after the plane landed. He looked out the window while still in flight and didn’t notice anything.
When the plane landed, he said, the airline workers told them to remain seated and that the authorities would meet the plane. Everyone was quiet as air marshals got on board and headed for the back of the plane.
“To be honest, I think it’s reassuring that there was such a great response from the authorities,” Ciobo said. “If there are people that are stupid enough to do those things on today of all days you wonder what’s going on through their heads. But the fact that there were so many authorities there … and that it all went so smoothly, I think they did a good job.
The jets intercepted the flight about 100 miles west of New York and shadowed it until it landed, Cornelio said. He also described the measure as precautionary.
The Associated Press contributed to this article.
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Comments (61)
AmeriCat
Posted on September 12, 2011 at 3:11amHave you seen the photos?
….with police, armed guards virtually swarming public places.
This is exactly what Venezuela looked like….at the cusp of “change”
Report Post »SamIamTwo
Posted on September 12, 2011 at 7:24amYeah, right…
Report Post »NOT A CRAZY
Posted on September 12, 2011 at 2:20amWhy is it that almost every single time there is one of these articles there is no indication if the people were camel jockeys or Mohammedites?
Report Post »tclove
Posted on September 12, 2011 at 1:56amMile High Club
Report Post »pyeatte
Posted on September 12, 2011 at 1:13amGlad they were on their toes. If nothing else the fighter pilots got their required flight hours in doing something interesting. Just be happy they didn’t get target practice.
Report Post »Detroit paperboy
Posted on September 12, 2011 at 2:54amWow , Detroit ? Who da thunk it !
Report Post »Welcome everybody ! Enjoy ….
Yr gonna hate it
DETROIT NATION “viva”
On The Bayou
Posted on September 12, 2011 at 6:56amIt was the refried beans.
Report Post »Ballot_Box_Revolution
Posted on September 12, 2011 at 12:58amwhat happened the headline changed…earlier it wasn’t only trips to the bathroom, “they locked themselves in!!” according to the source. hahahahahhaha that story got scrapped??? Probably because that is just ridiculous…everyone locks the door when they go in.
Report Post »beans bullets and bandaids
Posted on September 12, 2011 at 6:50amNo, that story didn’t get scrapped. It’s separate and still up:
http://www.theblaze.com/stories/f-16-jets-intercept-and-escort-nyc-bound-plane-after-3-passengers-locked-themselves-in-a-bathroom/
Report Post »SamIamTwo
Posted on September 12, 2011 at 7:04amMeh, they never come back to recognize their error. LOL
Report Post »kevleddy1
Posted on September 12, 2011 at 12:44amWhat a radical piece of excrement, an remember, our President thought him fit for a cabinet position.
Report Post »Quasimofo
Posted on September 12, 2011 at 12:41amIts over, the terrorists have won. Now we’re scared of prolonged bathroom breaks for crying out loud.
Report Post »james hayden
Posted on September 12, 2011 at 12:21am2 Israelis + 1 Russian = 2 Palestinians + 1 Chechnyan???
Report Post »AmeriCat
Posted on September 12, 2011 at 2:55amMy thoughts as well
Report Post »Sheepdog911
Posted on September 12, 2011 at 6:02amTwo of the men were Israeli and one was Russian, … They were making out. Go figure – gays in a cramped bathroom.
Report Post »SamIamTwo
Posted on September 12, 2011 at 7:07amThis has only been a test, we will now return you to your regular programing.
Report Post »LibertyOrDeath
Posted on September 12, 2011 at 12:07amI guess the point of the fighter jet was to blow up *innocent passengers* in case they thought the plane would be used as some kind of missile.
“Was blind, but now I see”
Indeed. Will the rest of America wake up and see the light and see the leviathan our monster government has become?
Report Post »Scaz
Posted on September 12, 2011 at 12:31amLook, Listen, Report.
Be well Citizen! Be safe.
Report Post »SamIamTwo
Posted on September 12, 2011 at 7:09amWell the facts don’t match up with your thoughts now, do they?
Report Post »one years food ration like glenn says
Posted on September 12, 2011 at 8:16am@SHEEPDOG911… EErrrrrr DUHHHhhhh !!! That was the other plane, moron.. What did you get to that part of the story , figured you read enough and started to post ? WAKE UP the liberal trolls look for stupidity like yours..
Report Post »KickinBack
Posted on September 12, 2011 at 12:01amAnother reason I won’t fly anymore. Your plane can be diverted just because some passenger(s) has a case of the runs. Ridiculous.
Report Post »jungle J
Posted on September 11, 2011 at 11:58pmLibs will follow Obama off a cliff and continue to kiss his ass on the way down.
Report Post »TheLeftMadeMeRight
Posted on September 12, 2011 at 10:42amYea but Obama won’t be driving the bus when it goes off the cliff. Obama and his crew have tied the wheel, put a brick on the gas, and will jump before the crash with his golden parachute and as will all the other congress-rats.
Report Post »poverty.sucks
Posted on September 11, 2011 at 11:52pmInorder to defuse any suspicion, let out a few good toots on your next trip to the lavatory.
Report Post »AnAmerican111
Posted on September 11, 2011 at 11:50pmI’m sure the morons are of Middle Eastern descent…………
Report Post »Ya wonder why they have no respect here in America!
Go back to the desert!
CulperGang
Posted on September 11, 2011 at 11:36pmFky the friendly sky of the TSA….thanks Bush for your “Patriot Act”………..which bred repression and corruption……….http://theerant.yuku.com/topic/44230/Corruption-Inside-TSA-Call-Charlie-Campisi
We the People are now We the Dumded down Idiots…………waiting to be groped and hustled.
Report Post »BLACKDIAMONDSKIER
Posted on September 12, 2011 at 12:09amGoing potty just got a whole lot trickier !!! On a serious note….today was a day of reflection for me. I thank God for my country, family, good, decent, honorable Americans, and Glenn Beck. I am thankful for the truth, for firefighters, policemen and women, and all active and retired military personnel. I especially thank God for a day of safety for all Americans. God bless you all. Wishes of health and good will to you all. Being a Christian is not an easy life but I am convinced it is the best life lived.
“But we should learn something else, that when you stand for the truth, when you don’t let anger force you into stupidity, eventually the ship will right itself. You just have to remain standing. The people attacking you with lies will be buried under their own weight. I believe in this. It has been true for all of eternity in the past and all eternity in the future.” – Glenn Beck
Honor to God.
Report Post »Scaz
Posted on September 12, 2011 at 12:28amI blame the idiot paranoid passengers that wanna see a terrorist under every rock.
Everybody just calm down.
Report Post »fierro77
Posted on September 12, 2011 at 4:19amwe’ve lost our rights and liberty and still fighters have to be ready to blow hundreds of american citizens out of the air. What’s the danger of anybody going to the bathroom if the great TSA is litterly checking up our as.ses to even get on the plane? There must not be too much confidence in the TSA if even the heads of their department doens’t trust them. It’s all a big farse anyhow when millions of arabs walk freely across our unsecured southern borders. If anyboby was serious about it then that would stop instead of being encourged. It’s all about taking our rights and including guns away, trashing the constitution and bringing the one world goverment.
Report Post »loriann12
Posted on September 12, 2011 at 6:46am@fierro77
That was my thought. I thought TSA screened their passangers so well that no terrorist could get through. That’s why they have to do the naked photograph and the groping. at least that’s what they tell us, right?
Report Post »ChiefGeorge
Posted on September 11, 2011 at 11:36pmGood, it looks like the awareness and organization of our agencies is working very well compared to the fateful day when all hell broke loose and we didn;t even realize that flt 11 hit the WTC 2 but said it was still in the air. We’ve learned alot and it was a matter if trail be fire to bring out the best in Americans and our systems.
Report Post »abecker7596
Posted on September 12, 2011 at 12:56amI agree, for what reason are people here saying “we stepped over the line of whats ”“paranoid”” and whats normal.” If they in bathroom for way longer than a justifiable time, then i am glad the govt is taking the time to make sure the flight lands safely. I am not an obama supporter, however i believe these are the right precautions… What did government “do wrong?”
Report Post »UNITED WE STAND
SamIamTwo
Posted on September 12, 2011 at 7:14amThis person is not a troll…very well thought out statement.
The Blaze if full of Trolls as of late. If you feed them they stay longer.
PLEASE ignore the trolls.
Report Post »CW3147
Posted on September 11, 2011 at 11:19pmI want your guys’ opinion, do you think that if there was a law banning flying on Sept. 11, would be a smart thing to do out of respect and safety? Or do you think that is a little too controlling and would just divert the treats to the 10th or the 12th and accomplish nothing? I know that if I had the choice, I would never fly on that day.
Report Post »Ballot_Box_Revolution
Posted on September 12, 2011 at 12:47amYou do……….have that choice.
I’m not trying to be a d! ck i’m just saying, that giving up liberty for security is just plain idiotic. You have a choice, and that is the best action ever….
Report Post »Tusker
Posted on September 11, 2011 at 11:13pmJust more propaganda to freak everyone out. I’m sick and tired of it. When an attack REALLY DOES happen, who’s going to be paying attention? Every article published like this is a ‘cry wolf’ action.
Report Post »Scaz
Posted on September 12, 2011 at 12:34am+1 Exactly what I’ve been thinking.
Report Post »SamIamTwo
Posted on September 12, 2011 at 7:20amHow many commercial air liners have been diverted in the last 10 years? Millions, thousands, hundreds or 30, 20, 10? and of the total, slice and dice the number by name, race, religion, whether or not they were fined, etc etc etc.
Give me statistics…so I too can come to the same conclusion.
Report Post »llotus
Posted on September 11, 2011 at 11:08pmIts hard to believe anyone would even go to the bathroom today. I am a bit nervous about the next few days or maybe this week. Lotus.
Report Post »jzs
Posted on September 11, 2011 at 11:02pmThis is government and TSA over regulation at its worst. Would someone please explain to me where in the Constitution of the United States of America that the government has the right to tell me when I can go to the bathroom? And when I have to get out of the bathroom? Rand Paul pointed out to Politico yesterday that the government needs to stay out of bedrooms and public bathrooms. I’m an adult, and don’t need some regulatory agency telling me when I am finished in the bathroom. This is the most extreme example yet of government overreach. The distance between the US now and a total dictatorship is as thin as a piece of toilet paper. This is like a government mandated prostrate exam and we must fight it with every means in our disposal.
Report Post »Therightsofbilly
Posted on September 12, 2011 at 1:09amHey JZS,
I was just wondering. Have you signed up for the free 14 day trial subscription to GBTV?
If not, I assume that you will just wait until you see what everyone at the huffpo, and media matters is saying about his show, and then you will parrot it here?
Or do you get talking points emails?
Report Post »CrismaFire
Posted on September 11, 2011 at 11:00pmMaybe just a bad stink bomb in the bathroom. Makes you wonder with all the security how drunks got on board. Bet another Prez. Obozo coverup bet it was Muslims and Obozo didn’t want us to know.
Report Post »Defends the TRUTH
Posted on September 11, 2011 at 10:58pmi always say it’s better to be safe than sorry when eating burritos the night before a flight..wink..wink
Report Post »mrsmileyface
Posted on September 11, 2011 at 10:56pmOMG!!!! Someone dropped a major deuce in the the airplane bathroom!!!! Better check it for WMD’s.
Report Post »CyberJocky
Posted on September 11, 2011 at 10:50pmIt’s a sad time when we scramble jets to escort plane if a passenger had a bad burrito the day before.
Report Post »MODEL82A1
Posted on September 11, 2011 at 10:42pmThis story is all a Cover-Up. Both airliners were shot down by military aircraft; one piloted by G. W. Bush, the other by Donald Rumsfeld. Right “Truthers”?
Report Post »CatB
Posted on September 11, 2011 at 10:42pmFunny that the other plane besides New York would be to Detroit … outside of Detroit .. is DEARBORN the largest Muslim community outside of the middle east … nothing? I doubt that.
Report Post »