News

UNL Students and Staff Member on Flight that Makes Emergency Landing

Posted: 4:52 PM May 22, 2012
Reporter: Associated Press & 10/11 News

UNL Students on Flight that Makes Emergency Landing, Erika Tallan Reports
Emergency Landing for Security Threat
UNL Agricultural Economics Director Rosalee Swartz on the Emergency Landing
UNL Student Vance Heyer on the Emergency Landing

A US Airways jet traveling from Paris to North Carolina was diverted to Maine on Tuesday after a French passenger handed a note to a flight attendant with a security threat.

A UNL staff member and 11 students were on the flight that had to make an emergency landing. Rosalee Swartz told 10/11 in a phone interview from North Carolina she and the students were coming back from an Agri-business study abroad in France. Swartz said she noticed commotion going on in the front of the plane and a woman pacing back and forth but she didn't know what was happening.

Later she says the woman was escorted to the back of the plane a row behind where she and some of the students were sitting. She said a student noticed the woman was handcuffed. Swartz said she looked down at the woman's feet and she hand plastic ties on her feet.

Swartz said the pilot told passengers they would be landing in 10 minutes in Maine for a re-fuel because they had used more fuel due to turbulent skies.

She said as soon as they landed, the woman was escorted off the plane and the pilot came on the intercom and told them the real reason they landed was because of a security threat.

Officials say the woman's note to the flight attendant said that she had a surgically implanted device, raising fears of a terror scenario that security officials had warned about.

There is no evidence the plane was ever in danger, officials said. An examination by two doctors aboard the plane found that the passenger, a French citizen born in Cameroon, had no scars or incisions, said U.S. Sen. Susan Collins of Maine, who was briefed by Transportation Security Administration chief John Pistole.

Swartz said she, the students and the other passengers on the plane were taken to a hanger while customs officials came on with dogs to inspect the plane.

The FBI and Homeland Security Department warned airlines last summer that terrorists are considering surgically hiding bombs inside humans to evade airport security.

"We have seen intelligence identifying surgically implanted bombs as a threat to air travel," said Collins, the ranking Republican on the Homeland Security Committee.

Swartz said they found out what the security threat on the plane really was after watching TV.

Two F-15 fighters scrambled to escort Flight 787 with 179 passengers and nine crew members to Bangor International Airport, where it landed shortly after noon.

The Boeing 767 was about 40 minutes away from Bangor when local officials were alerted. After landing, it taxied to a remote part of the airport where law enforcement officials removed the passenger, said Tony Caruso, acting airport manager.

Passengers were advised to keep their shades down during a movie, so they didn't realize fighter jets had been dispatched to intercept the flight, said Stuart Frankel of Baltimore. Also, there were a couple of calls on the overhead speakers for doctors, but that didn't seem especially unusual either, he said.

Eventually, the pilot advised that the jet needed to land for fuel in Maine.

"We saw lots of police and federal customs people take a woman off the plane in handcuffs," Frankel said. "People were amazed at what was going on. We didn't know what was happening until we landed."

Several passengers said they'd noticed that particular passenger because of her slight stature and big eyelashes. They said she attracted attention by walking up and down the aisle throughout the flight.

William Milam from Richmond, Va., said he'd spoken French with the woman and helped her get her luggage into an overhead bin.

After the woman was removed from the flight, passengers were informed that they'd have to leave while the jet was checked for explosives, Milam said. "This is like, `Wow,"' he said. "I'm thinking drugs. And they're thinking explosives."

Swartz said she's flown overseas several times and has never experienced anything like this.

The passengers were kept in a secure area before being allowed back onto the jet, which departed 3 1/2 hours later for Charlotte, N.C.

U.S. Rep. Peter King, R-N.Y., who was briefed on the matter, said the woman who was detained was traveling alone without any checked baggage and intended to stay in the U.S. for 10 days.

The FBI, which is conducting the investigation, interviewed passengers before the plane departed.

"At this time, there is no evidence that the plane or its passengers were ever in any actual danger," said Greg Comcowich, an FBI spokesman in Boston.

The TSA issued a statement saying the passenger exhibited suspicious behavior that warranted the unscheduled stop.

"Out of an abundance of caution, the flight was diverted to (Bangor) where it was met by law enforcement," said TSA spokesman Sterling Payne.

The Bangor airport is accustomed to dealing with diverted flights. It's the first large U.S. airport for incoming European flights and the last U.S. airport for outgoing flights, with uncluttered skies and one of the longest runways on the East Coast. Aircraft
use the airport when there are mechanical problems, medical emergencies or unruly passengers.

Home to a Maine Air National Guard unit, the airport also serves as a refueling hub for military aircraft transporting personnel and cargo to and from Europe and the Middle East.