Nothing Suspicious Found After Threat Made Against London-To-Newark Flight
NEWARK, N.J. (CBSNewYork/AP) -- A canine unit has found nothing suspicious during a sweep of a London-to-Newark flight after authorities received an unspecified threat.
The British Airways flight carrying 206 passengers and 13 crew members arrived around 1 p.m. Thursday at Newark Liberty International Airport.
CBS2's Dick Brennan reported that emergency responders swarmed the plane as it was moved to a remote area of the airport. The bags of the passengers and crew members were set out on the tarmac as bomb-sniffing dogs were brought in.
Many passengers were frightened by the unusual greeting party.
"It was all quite a spectacle, 30 police cars. We weren't told really much information," Caroline Stafford told WCBS 880's Peter Haskell
"I guess it was a lot of frightening, just listened for directions," Guia Castro said.
Authorities said it began with a phoned-in threat to the Jersey City Police Department as the planed landed around 12:50 p.m.
"We really didn't know anything until we were on the tarmac, that's when the pilot got on the intercom and said there was a threat that was called in, and had to do some security measures," Sean Fitzgerald of Port Monmouth, New Jersey, said.
The plane was taken to a remote location for further checking.
Passengers were taken by bus to the gate where their baggage had to be re-screened again.
"We made it through, we made it through," Miranda Salomone said. "Everybody was calm."
The canine unit found nothing suspicious during its sweep, and British Airways said all the additional screening was carried out as a precaution.
"British Airways Flight 185 landed normally," the airline said in a statement. "The safety and security of our customers and crew is our number one priority."
Some of the passengers missed their connection, but the authorities got a good review, in general, for the job they did.
Authorities are investigating who phoned in the threat.
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