AA Flight Canceled After "Security Event" At DFW Airport
DALLAS (CBSDFW.COM) - An American Airlines flight bound for Washington D.C. from Dallas/Fort Worth International Airport was canceled Wednesday before ever leaving the ground. It happened after a "security event" occurred and two men were removed from the plane.
The incident meant everyone on Flight 1316 had to start over.
"The security concern cropped up," explained American Airlines spokesman Tim Smith. "Authorities ultimately decided that all the passengers needed to be deplaned, their carry-ons, their regular checked bags and the aircraft itself, all needed to be rescreened."
Smith said two men on the flight were somehow deemed suspicious, but it wasn't because of any action they'd taken.
"There were some passengers onboard who drew the attention of others onboard," Smith said. "It was something that was observational, as opposed to something anyone said, or anything like that."
Smith said he couldn't give specific information about the incident, but stressed that airline and airport personnel are skilled and qualified to handle emergency situations.
"Our crews and others that are onboard the aircraft are always trained for any type of behavior that is out of the ordinary or in some way suspicious," he said. "There are elements of that that come into play everyday, a lot of people just aren't aware of it."
After an unknown period of time the two men removed from the plane were cleared and released without being charged.
All of the 140 passengers on Flight 1316, bound for Washington National Airport, were booked onto other flights.
