Tue, Sep 12, 2006
'Suspicious Objects' Found On Board
On Monday, the fifth
anniversary of the 9-11 terrorist attacks, a United Airlines
Airbus A-319, Flight 351, bound for San
Francisco from Atlanta, diverted to Dallas/Fort Worth because of
two suspicious objects found on board.
The two suspicious items were a backpack and a BlackBerry
handheld computer. Blackberries are a combination of a
handheld computer and telephone and as such could possibly be
considered a triggering device.
Initial reports were unclear if the backpack was actually found
before the plane departed ATL, or was found in flight. In any case,
federal authorities ordered the Airbus to land at DFW.
Transportation Security Administration (TSA) spokeswoman Yolanda
Clark did say shortly after the Dallas arrival, "After the flight
was in the air, an unclaimed BlackBerry was found on the aircraft.
The aircraft is secure, but the flight was diverted out an
abundance of caution."
The plane landed at DFW around 7am CDT.
Authorities decided not to send military fighter aircraft to
escort the jet, said Lt. Col. John Cornelio, a spokesman for U.S.
Northern Command.
United spokeswoman Robin Urbanski said there were 50
passengers on the aircraft. They were rescreened by the TSA
after deplaning at DFW and then reboarded to continue their
journey.
The plane finally arrived at SFO about two and half hours
late.
The backpack with the BlackBerry belonged to an unidentified
woman who had been a passenger on an earlier flight.
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