9/11 Anniversary Terror Threat: Fighter Jets Scrambled for 'Suspicious' Passengers on 2 Flights
On the 10th anniversary of 9/11, three passengers aboard a Frontier Airlines flight were escorted off the airplane and questioned by federal law enforcement officers after the crew reported suspicious activity on board.
Frontier Flight 623 was heading to Detroit from Denver when two F-16 jets were scrambled to shadow the airplane “out of an abundance of caution,” AP has reported.
Peter Kowalchuk, a spokesman for the airline, said the passengers “were observed behaving suspiciously,” according to Reuters.
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The airplane was diverted to Denver’s Metropolitan Airport, where the FBI detained three passengers, two males and one female. After questioning, agents determined there was no threat and the passengers were released without any charges being filed.
Earlier reports said two passengers “making out” in the bathroom caused the entire fiasco. However, the FBI issued a press release that confirms there were never two people in the bathroom together and none of the three passengers knew each other, AP reported.
“The three individuals were strangers to each other, but sat in the same row on the plane. One of the males, who was not feeling well, got up to use the restroom during the flight. The other male at approximately the same time got up to use the restroom. The female remained seated in her row,” the FBI reported in a statement.
“It should be noted that at no time were there ever two people in the bathroom at the same time, and at no time were the three individuals uncooperative with the flight crew,” the agency added.
Fighter jets Sunday also escorted American Airlines Flight 34, between Los Angeles and New York, after three passengers were “behaving suspiciously,” the TSA said, according to the New York Daily News. The crew reported three men made repeated trips to the bathroom and were “making odd hand gestures to grab their buddies attention,” the Daily News reported.
Federal air marshals on board questioned the three men, two Israelis and one Russian, and determined they posed no risk. The men were released with no charges filed against them, FBI spokeswoman Kelly Langmesser said.
Both security scares occurred days after officials announced Friday there was an “unconfirmed” terror threat for New York and Washington, D.C. Government officials have not able to corroborate the information but they believe two of the three suspects are male, U.S. citizens.
