US plane diverts after woman claims implanted device

World

US plane diverts after woman claims implanted device

Close

Doctors found no sign of scars and the woman was arrested after the plane landed in Maine.

23 May,2012 07:12 am

A French woman forced a transatlantic flight from Paris to North Carolina to be diverted to Maine on Tuesday after claiming she had a surgically implanted device.The US Airways jet with 179 passengers and crew on board landed safely in Bangor, Maine, where the woman was taken into custody by the FBI before the Boeing 767 continued its journey to Charlotte, North Carolina.Coming on the heels of a thwarted airline bomb plot by Al-Qaedas Yemen branch, the incident has laid bare US worry over shifting tactics of extremists as they seek new ways -- and new technologies, including non-metallic bombs -- for landing a deadly blow against an American target.Last year, US officials warned airlines that terror groups were studying how to surgically hide bombs inside humans to evade airport security -- precisely the threat that emerged when the US Airways passenger made herself known to the cabin crew.Senator Susan Collins, the ranking Republican on the Senate Homeland Security Committee, highlighted the concerns shortly after news broke of Flight 787s diversion to Maine, saying there has been intelligence identifying surgically implanted bombs as a threat to air travel.Collins, briefed on the incident by Transportation Security Administration chief John Pistole, said TSA recently issued security directives to airports, airlines, and foreign governments, advising them to take added screening precautions and to be on the lookout for indicators of surgically implanted explosives.The US Airways flight took off without incident from Charles de Gaulle airport outside Paris, bound for Charlotte. At some point during the flight, a passenger handed a note to a flight attendant that said she had a surgically implanted device inside her, House Homeland Security Committee Chairman Peter King said in a statement.The Cameroon-born woman was traveling alone with no checked baggage and visiting the United States for 10 days, according to King.Alarmed crew on board isolated the passenger, and doctors on the flight checked her out and did not see any sign of recent scars, King added.Andrew Kobayashi, a passenger on the flight, told CNN that the woman, who appeared to be in her mid-20s to mid-30s, was sweating and acting nervous.I had briefly noticed her in the back of the plane being a weirdo... (She) seemed on edge, but no more so than anybody who is nervous about flying, said Kobayashi, who was seated several rows forward of the woman.I was more bewildered than worried. It was happening very quickly and very quietly.Concerned pilots radioed in to North American Aerospace Defense Command, and two F-15 fighter jets based in Massachusetts were scrambled to escort the airliner through its tension-filled descent to Bangor, Maine.