A commercial flight from London to Washington was diverted to Boston today, flanked by fighter jets, after a claustrophobic female passenger caused a disturbance and had to be tied up.
An airport spokesman initially said that the woman had taken a screwdriver, matches, vaseline and a note mentioning al-Qaeda aboard the United Airlines flight from Heathrow - but security officials later denied that and said there was no terrorist link.
Passengers were ordered off the flight from Heathrow nevertheless. All their luggage was taken off the aircraft and laid out on the runway as sniffer dogs inspected every item. All their hand baggage was also being checked.
George Naccara, federal security director for the Transportation Security Administration for Massachusetts’ airport, said that he did not believe any items she was carrying were the cause of the outburst and denied that she was carrying matches, vaseline or a screwdriver.
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It was the most serious security alert since British anti-terror police announced last week that they had foiled an allged plot to blow up transatlantic flights. Twenty-four people are in custody for questioning.
Passengers on flights from Britain have since been barred from carrying gels and liquids in their hand baggage and the volume of baggage they can carry on has been reduced by half.
Brandon Borrman, a spokesman for United Airlines, said the female passenger was spotted engaging in some suspicious activity, but he could not say what that was.
The female passenger said that she was claustrophobic and became very upset and got into some kind of confrontation with the flight crew, said Mr Naccara.
American television networks said a passenger was being questioned at Boston’s Logan airport. Reports said that she was 60 years old, from Vermont.
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Fox News Channel said the plane was diverted to Boston after the pilot declared a”security emergency” and it was intercepted by two F15 fighter jets.
Phil Orlandella, a spokesman for Orlando airport, added: “There was a supposed confrontation on board. There may have been a banned item on board and they are now searching the luggage.”
A United Airlines spokesman in London said: “I can confirm that United Airlines flight 9234 with 182 passengers on board was diverted to Boston after the captain declared a security emergency.
“There was an altercation with at least one female passenger. The plane is safely on the ground in Boston. The crew assessed the situation and determined that a divert was the appropriate course of action.”
The flight had taken off from Heathrow around 8.30am - about half an hour late. It had been due to land in Washington DC at 4.10pm UK time and then fly on to Denver, Colorado.
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The White House spokesman Tony Snow told reporters: “Apparently there was a determination made by senior cabin crew and pilots about an unruly passenger. The flight landed without incident.”