A search has turned up nothing threatening on either of the two Air France flights that were diverted last night because of anonymous threats that were phoned in after the planes took off from USA airports, bound for Paris.
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The airline tweeted that the flights were being diverted as a “precautionary measure” after being the “subjects of anonymous threats”, while the Royal Canadian Mounted Police mentioned a “bomb threat” in its tweet.
Air France Flight 55 is scheduled to depart Halifax Thursday at 3:45 a.m.
American authorities investigated and found no credible threat, according to an Federal Bureau of Investigation statement released late Tuesday night.
The FBI was taking over the investigation of the plane in Salt Lake City, which was diverted because of a threat received by phone after take-off, Salt Lake airport spokeswoman Bianca Shreeve said.
The flight that was diverted to Salt Lake City took off again after midnight. Once we got the plane parked we had a number of shuttle busses out there and very quickly helped the passengers get off the plane.
No USA military aircraft were scrambled in either incident, NORAD spokesman Preston Schlachter said.
“The darkness of it all just to have to go through this, and I don’t think this is the best time for me to take my vacation to Paris”, Blamckaert said.
The second Air France airliner, Flight 55, which left Dulles global Airport outside Washington, D.C., was also due for Paris, but was diverted to Halifax in Nova Scotia, Canada.
A witness told CNN, that in his flight the passengers remained calm when they heard the announcement for the flight’s diversion.
“One thing that has to be clear is that we may call this a hoax, but the reality is, terrorism – which we see going on in France right now, and here – is a tactic used to affect a psychological or political change on a community”.
The Islamic State in Iraq and Syria has claimed credit for the Paris attacks, and the group has also threatened to conduct terror attacks in the U.S.
“World aviation is on high alert”, said Mr Mark Martin, founder of Dubai-based Martin Consulting, adding that airports must step up screening of all staff entering airports.
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On Tuesday, a bomb threat led Germany to cancel a soccer game with the Netherlands that Chancellor Angela Merkel and members of her Cabinet planned to attend.
