Boston-bound flight returns after passenger found on no-fly list
LONDON --A London-to-Boston flight was called back to Heathrow Airport on Monday after U.S. authorities discovered a passenger's name was on their "no-fly" list, officials said. Four passengers were being questioned by border control officers.
American Airlines Flight 109, a
"The flight returned to Heathrow due to a security issue that needed to be resolved in London," he said. "It was not a security threat to the aircraft. The flight was in no danger."
Wagner provided no other details.
A passenger said one man and three women were escorted from the plane. Michelle Walker-Adams, speaking to WFXT-TV at Logan International Airport in Boston, said passengers were told to remain seated while officers boarded.
"They pointed to this gentleman, and they escorted him off," she said after arriving in Boston on Monday night. "There were three women with him. They escorted them off. It was very quiet, very peaceful."
Phil Orlandella, a spokesman for the Massachusetts Port Authority, which runs Logan Airport, said staff were told at a meeting Monday morning that the name of a passenger on the flight matched one on the no-fly list. He had no further information.
"Out of an abundance of caution, Homeland Security determined the flight would not be allowed to land in Boston," said a U.S. Homeland Security Department official in Washington, speaking on condition of anonymity because of the sensitivity of the situation.
He said there were no reports of unusual activity aboard the plane.
The man, traveling with three women identified as his mother and two sisters, was taken into custody for questioning by British and U.S. authorities, the Homeland Security official said.
The official, who did not know the suspect passenger's age or nationality, said the three women traveling with him were not taken into custody.
But London's Metropolitan Police said port and border control officials were questioning four passengers removed from the flight. Police did not specify who they were.
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Associated Press writer Lara Jakes Jordan in Washington contributed to this report.
