US flight diverted, three passengers quizzed

WASHINGTON - A US Airways flight from New York to Phoenix was diverted to Missouri Tuesday due to suspicious behavior of three passengers, officials said.

The three were taken off the plane as it landed in St. Louis, Missouri, at 1250 GMT where police were waiting for them, the Transportation Security Administration said.


"US Airways Flight 457 from John F. Kennedy International Airport to Phoenix Sky Harbor International Airport diverted to Lambert - St. Louis International Airport at the request of the flight crew, due to suspicious behavior exhibited by three passengers," the TSA said in a statement.

The plane was swept and cleared to continue, it added.

A TSA spokesman refused to give any further details on the three people being questioned.

The incident comes after crews aboard two US flights were so unnerved by lengthy bathroom visits on Sunday's anniversary of the September 11, 2001 attacks that officials scrambled F-16 fighter jets to shadow the flights.

The planes landed without incident in Detroit and New York and the six passengers who exhibited the "suspicious behavior" were released without charge after being interviewed, the FBI said Monday.


by Dan De Luce
(c) 2011 AFP