Threat Forces Evacuation Of Pittsburgh-Bound Plane

[ohiostorm]

NEWARK, N.J. -- A bomb threat found 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 to be permitted to re-board the same plane later in the afternoon to make the flight to Pittsburgh, Ciavolella said.

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.