NEW YORK (PIX11/AP) — Fighter jets escorted an Air France flight into John F. Kennedy International Airport Monday after a threat was made against the plane and a second plane appears to be under investigation at the Queens airport.
Two F-15s from the Massachusetts Air National Guard were launched as a precautionary measure to guide the plane to the airport, according to North American Aerospace Defense Command (NORAD). An FBI spokesperson told the Associated Press an anonymous caller claimed a chemical weapon was aboard the aircraft.
The FBI provided the following statement:
“Out of an abundance of caution, Air France flight number 22 was escorted to John F. Kennedy airport by U.S. Air Force fighter jets following a phone threat. The plane has landed and has deboarded. There were no incidents or hazards reported on board the flight by either the passengers or its crew. The plane has been cleared.”
Air France Flight 22 was on its way to JFK when law enforcement learned of the threat, NORAD said. A spokesman for the agency could not provide further details about the nature of the threat.
After landing safely at JFK, the plane was searched and so far has turned up no weapons. The airline said passengers “disembarked normally” from the plane.
The FAA told PIX11 News the incident is not impacting other flight operations at JFK Airport. An investigation is underway.
A second plane appeared to be under investigation at JFK Airport. A PIX11 News photographer traveling back to New York spotted emergency vehicles surrounding a Saudia Airlines plane. No further details about what prompted that response was immediately available.
“There’s a lot of police and Port Authority personnel around the plane,” photographer John Frasse said.
He had been traveling on a JetBlue flight from Savannah, Ga., and was watching the activity unfold from Terminal 5.
The Saudia flight was checked for weapons and passengers were safely deplaned. No threat was found and the FBI believes the same person is likely behind both scares.
In all, approximately 10 threats against planes came to at least four different agencies, according to a source familiar with the situation. Authorities are reacting out of an abundance of caution, but the source stressed so far nothing has proven to be real.
