Fighters escort SEATTLE >> Two fighter jets escorted a Hawaiian Airlines passenger jet arriving in Seattle from Honolulu yesterday after a bomb threat was received against the plane. Hawaiian Airlines officials said no bomb was found after the flight crew did a visual search while the plane was still in the air.
Hawaiian jetliner
Air Force jets hustle when a bomb
is reported on a Seattle flight,
but the plane lands safelyStar-Bulletin staff and news services
Port of Seattle police were also unable to find any trace of a bomb after they boarded the DC-10 last night with bomb-sniffing dogs, said airport spokesman Bob Parker.
Seattle police received a call on the 911 phone line at 7:50 p.m. saying there was a bomb on Hawaiian Airlines Flight 22, a duty officer for the Federal Aviation Administration said.
The U.S. Air Force sent fighter jets to escort the plane into Seattle, the duty officer said. The jets scrambled from McChord Air Force Base in Tacoma and later returned to base, according to KIRO-TV.
The plane touched down without incident at 9:24 p.m. Hawaiian Airlines spokesman Keoni Wagner said all 304 passengers were for the most part unaffected by the hoax. To his knowledge, Wagner said, this was the first time that fighter jets escorted a Hawaiian aircraft for any reason.
Earlier yesterday, an Army National Guardsman arriving from Honolulu was arrested at Los Angeles International Airport after trying to pass a security checkpoint with an explosive device in his bag, authorities said. No evacuations were ordered and no flights were delayed.
Jacques Baker, 32, of Guam, was taken into custody for carrying an explosive device aboard an aircraft, said FBI spokesman Matthew McLaughlin. Baker was expected to be charged today in federal court, McLaughlin said.
Baker flew alone into Los Angeles early yesterday from Honolulu and was bound for Sacramento when the device was found in his luggage.
A security screener noticed the device in Baker's carry-on bag as it passed through an X-ray machine. Authorities said it was unclear whether Baker was on active duty or on leave. McLaughlin identified the device as a seal bomb, typically used by fishermen to scare seals away from fishing areas.