Delta Flight From London Searched At Newark Airport Following Bomb Threat
NEW YORK (CBSNewYork/AP) -- A Delta Air Lines flight from London was moved to an isolated area at Newark Liberty International Airport on Monday following a bomb threat, authorities said.
The FAA ordered Delta Flight 69 to park and wait a distance away from the terminals, CBS2's Matt Kozar reported. Port Authority police swarmed the tarmac as the plane from Heathrow Airport landed, WCBS 880's Marla Diamond reported.
As police searched the aircraft, the 191 passengers deplaned and lined up their carry-on luggage for bomb-sniffing dogs to search.
In the end, law enforcement found nothing suspicious. An all-clear was given around 2 p.m.
Passengers were initially not told about the threat, said a woman who was aboard the plane.
"They told us we was getting off the plane and we had to all line up the bags along the tarmac and then just stand in a line and wait for our bags to be searched by the dogs," the woman told Diamond.
"It was quite scary at first, and then once we were informed properly, I felt a bit better about the situation," passenger Sophie Kelly told Kozar.
Alison Bower said her fellow passengers remained calm throughout the search.
The pilot "said that there had been some sort of threat to the aircraft and that not to worry," she said.
#DL69 passengers held outside the plane in EWR pic.twitter.com/3L6wGJAzGm
— Pedro L. Gutierres (@CubaSiFidelNo) June 15, 2015
The passengers were then bused to Terminal B to go through Customs.
On Sunday, Alitalia Flight 604 was temporarily evacuated and searched while on the tarmac at John F. Kennedy International Airport due to a threat. That flight had just returned from Milan.
Police said they don't know if the threats are linked.
The incidents are the latest in a series of bomb threats made against planes landing in the New York City area since Memorial Day. The details of the threats and who has been making them remain unclear.
In an unrelated incident Sunday at Newark Liberty, police said a loaded gun was found in a New York man's carry-on bag as he prepared to board a flight.
Joe Pentangelo with Port Authority police said Gregory Soltanoff, 40, of Woodstock, was charged Sunday with unlawful possession of a handgun and hollow-point bullets. Soltanoff was ticketed to fly to Syracuse.
Pentangelo said Transportation Security Administration officers found the .32 caliber firearm in the bag after it was screened. It was loaded with six bullets. The gun was detected by a TSA officer who was monitoring an X-ray machine.
TSA officers contacted police, and Soltanoff was arrested. He was released later Sunday.
Airport operations weren't affected.
A telephone call to Soltanoff's house rang unanswered Monday.
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