'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.

FMI: www.united.com, www.tsa.gov