Logan Airport Not Part Of Cargo Plane Searches
BOSTON (CBS/AP) - A suspicious package in the United Kingdom has prompted searches of cargo planes and trucks in the U.S.
However, a TSA spokesperson told WBZ-TV no planes are being searched at Logan Airport in Boston. Massport spokesman Phil Orlandella also confirmed that to WBZ News Radio.
According to CBS News, at least four UPS cargo planes were swept for possible bombs – two in Philadelphia, one in Newark and a fourth in Birmingham, England.
During a basic security screening process in the United Kingdom, officials found a suspicious item on a cargo plane that was flying from Yemen to Chicago.
At a news conference at the White House Friday afternoon, President Obama said that this was a credible terror threat.
Obama says the packages, which were intercepted overseas, originated in Yemen and were apparently bound for places of Jewish worship in Chicago.
U.K. officials discovered that a toner cartridge on the plane had been manipulated and found wires attached to it and white powder.
CBS News has learned that the devices that triggered the security alerts tested positive for explosive materials. This does not mean they were actual bombs, and some of the tests were negative.
Concerns about the possibility of similar and potentially dangerous devices shipped elsewhere prompted officials to check other cargo planes headed to the U.S.
Friday afternoon a commercial passenger jet carrying cargo from Yemen was escorted from the Canadian border to New York City by two military fighter jets, U.S. officials said. The plane landed shortly after 3:30 p.m. EDT.
The F-15s that escorted that jet originated from Barnes Air National Guard Base.
The officials said there is no known threat associated with the plane, but it being escorted to John F. Kennedy International Airport as a precautionary move. Authorities on Friday were investigating whether suspicious packages shipped aboard cargo planes from Yemen to the U.S. were part of a terrorist plot.
According to CBS News, several UPS trucks have also been stopped in Brooklyn and Queens to be searched.
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