Bomb Threat Causes Plane Evacuation at Newark
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Bomb Threat Causes Plane Evacuation at Newark
Dec 3, 2005 5:00 pm US/Eastern
(1010 WINS) (NEWARK) A bomb threat scrawled in the bathroom of an airplane at a gate at Newark Liberty International Airport on Friday is believed to be an imitation of a similar threat that forced a jet to make an emergency landing in Kansas City a day earlier, authorities said.
Continental Airlines flight 2499, which had been scheduled to depart for Pittsburgh at around 12:20 p.m., was towed to a remote section of the airport, where it was searched for explosives before being cleared at 1:50 p.m., said Tony Ciavolella, a spokesman for the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey, which operates the airport.
Twenty passengers who were on the aircraft at Terminal C were removed and questioned by investigators while the search was being carried out. They were taken back to the terminal by bus, and were placed on a different plane, which took off at 3:15 p.m. to make the flight to Pittsburgh.
Port Authority police were notified at about 12:30 p.m. when someone saw a handwritten bomb threat scrawled in a restroom aboard the jet, according to a law enforcement source with knowledge of the investigation, who spoke on condition of anonymity.
Airport police responded immediately, along with the FBI's Joint Terrorism Task Force.
The threat came a day after an America West Airbus jet made an emergency landing at Kansas City International Airport when someone left a note in the plane's bathroom that said: "Taliban is Here."
Friday's incident in Newark appeared to be the work of a copycat, the source said.
The America West plane was flying from Phoenix to Boston on Thursday when a passenger saw the note. The passenger notified the flight crew and the pilot landed the plane at about 1:30 p.m., authorities said.
After a search by the FBI, airport police and the Transportation Security Administration, passengers were allowed to board the America West plane again three hours later.
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