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Subscribe to RSSThe security scare that resulted in a US Airways jet returning to Philadelphia International Airport on Thursday morning was the result of "a pretty nasty trick played on a passenger," police said. NBC's Pete Williams reports.
Updated at 8:15 p.m. ET: The security scare that resulted in a US Airways jet returning to Philadelphia International Airport on Thursday morning was the result of "a pretty nasty trick played on a passenger," authorities said.
But it appears police had the last laugh.
The man taken off the jet and questioned was the victim of a hoax, apparently performed because Thursday was his birthday, officials said. It's still not clear whether a social media posting was involved. But a telephone call was placed to Philadelphia police, claiming that he was trying to "smuggle" something to Texas.
The US Airways flight en route to Dallas-Fort Worth returned to Philadelphia International after law enforcement officials learned there could be a suspicious item on board. The airline learned of the potential threat from the FBI, US Airways spokesperson Davien Anderson told NBC News.
Flight 1267 took off in Philadelphia and returned shortly before 9 a.m. ET out of an "abundance of caution," Anderson said.
The cost of the hoax will cost US Airways "upwards of tens of thousands of dollars in direct and indirect costs," the airline said. Sixty-nine passengers were on the Airbus A319, and were being rebooked on other flights.
When the man at the center of the hoax got to Dallas late Thursday, he was arrested by local police.
He was wanted on several existing warrants in Texas for offenses having nothing to do with the hoax. When he became famous Thursday because of the plane hoax, and police in Texas discovered he was coming their way, they prepared to meet him at the airport and take him into custody on unfinished business.
Federal officials were not certain of the nature of the existing warrants.
A US Airways flight bound for Dallas-Fort Worth returned to Philadelphia International Airport following a security alert. NBCNews.com's Dara Brown reports.
NBC News' justice correspondent Pete Williams contributed to this report.
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Leave a Comment:
Matteo
Kudos to the person who did it! What about all of the people on the plane who were inconvenienced or worse, scared? I don't disagree that the airlines have not always managed their business very well, that the associated unions have driven up prices with their salary and benefit demands and they are reducing their services and charging more. But that's no excuse for this type of inane behaviour.
I have a flight attendant friend, Mike, and she, with 25 years of seniority, has seen her salary and benefits cut over and over again. Half the time, she is fighting the union, not the management. So if the unions are driving up prices, the employees are sure not seeing the benefits of that. Also, an earlier comment about some old lady hitting a flight attendant who was rude to her -- the vast majority of the time it is stupid, drunk, and/or obnoxious people who make the flight hell for the attendants, not the other way around.
On the other hand, this is the kind of idiotic stunt my over 60 yo ex would have tried, thinking it was "funny." Turning a flight around is no laughing matter, I agree. Inane is, indeed, the word.
Well, I have a simple solution..1 day in jail for the prankster for every dollar of Airline money he cost, plus 1 day for every dollar paid by the other passengers for their tickets and upgrades. Put a stop to this Jr. High School bull@!$%# right off.
Assuming that the paranoid approach to security taken by the airlines is working, how would it be possible for anyone to smuggle a bomb on board. Did they forget to do the body cavity search on someone?
Now all the Terrorist need to do is pick up the phone to disrupt us. Our nation has been pushed to paranoia.
They surely dont need help from a "FRIEND" of the birthday boy. With friends like that who needs terrorist. Hang 'em.
A good phucking beating is in order....
why on earth wouldn't they continue to their destination, and detain him at dallas-fort worth? despite the prank, their safety procedures border on stupidity.
www.prlog.org/11967601-chaos-erupts-on-airtran-airways-flight-as-elderly-couple-comes-unhinged-over-book.html
Old Lady or Glen Beck ?
Smuggle something into Texas? OMG! What if it was the Bill of Rights?
SCREAM & RUN!
What a non informative news post. Who phoned the threat in, and was the caller arrested?. Well what can we expect for the cost of our electric bill, and ISP a news site that spells properly, is non biased, states their resources, uses proper sentence structure, obviously we wont get any of that from NBC.
Where was NTS when all this was going on. They should of known all the passengers B-Days.
NTS always have their noses stuck where it does'nt belong.
The police should have known it was a hoax. Everyone on the plane went through the TSA checks.There couldn't have been anything suspicious on the plane or don't they trust the TSA. If they don't trust them. Why do they have them?
So WE will have a false sense of security and continue on with our lives...
I smuggle a huge package every time I leave the house - no cause for alarm.
A full diaper?
Here we go again! NBC only reporting parts of a story. They are so good at this. Rile the people up with half truths, sell some ad spots, etc. and people jump on FOX!
Right on NBC! Lets Trayvon again!
Unfortunately there have been a lot of reports lately about TSA missing items that have been sent through security as a check of their detection ability. Consequently they are not infallable, just another poorly run government agency that we are all paying for.
The airlines have to then take the precaution of returning to their point of origin to assess the threat for passenger security. They even have to take a "hoax" seriously until they can prove there is no serious threat.
The only precaution the airlines were taking was to avoid litigation. Can you imagine if something happened on that plane and it was discovered they had knowledge of something suspicious and chose not to act? The survivors of the passengers would be the new owners of an airline industry.
Look at your friends closely. See any that resemble "FOOL?" If so, replace these friends as fast as possible! In fact, you'll be better off without them even if you don't replace them, just get rid of them! In all actuality, this "prankster" is likely to do federal time now... and good ridance! Can you imagine how safe you are with someone this dimwitted driving around?
I wish someone would do something about the irritating SwissAir ad that is obscuring parts of these news stories.
Obviously the FBI, police and airlines know that TSA is useless otherwise they wouldn’t have returned the plane to Philadelphia.
The constant fear mongering by TSA and DHS results in these overreactions.
It has been 11 years without one terrorist attack in the air, on the ground or anywhere else but DHS is still able to use paranoia to dupe stupid and cowardly Americans without actually doing anything to protect them.
....so much for the 'hoax'......whoever made the phone call should serve jail time......terrorism is no joke........am thinking that the call came from a 'jilted' ex...................never underestimate the wrath of a woman scorned......
Or maybe... the person responsible for this knew this fellow had outstanding warrants, and this was their way of playing bounty-hunter....