Airliner bomb threat proves to be hoax

An American passenger jet flying from Australia to Los Angeles returned to Sydney International Airport today after crew found a written bomb threat which turned out to be a hoax.

An American passenger jet flying from Australia to Los Angeles returned to Sydney International Airport today after crew found a written bomb threat which turned out to be a hoax.

United Airlines Flight 840, carrying 246 passengers, turned around “when an object which raised some security suspicions was found on board”, the company said.

“As a precaution, the captain immediately returned to Sydney landing without incident at 5.50pm (8.50am Irish time). Further investigations will be carried out,” United Airlines said.

The hoax came just days after a purported al-Qaida affiliate in Europe, the Tawhid Islamic Group, warned it would turn Australia into “pools of blood” if Canberra did not withdraw its troops from Iraq.

Australia has nearly 900 military personnel in and around Iraq.

Transport Minister John Anderson told Australian Broadcasting Corporation radio the “object” discovered was a note carrying a bomb threat.

Anderson said the note carried “some words that implied that there might have been a bomb on board”.

Australian media reported the note was written on an air-sickness bag found in or near one of the aircraft’s toilets.

Flights in and out of Sydney, Australia’s busiest airport, were briefly halted or diverted during what the government treated as a full-scale emergency, Anderson said.

“The first point to make is everyone is safe and flights in Australia are now resuming,” he added. “Things are returning to normal.”

Anderson said the plane was searched but no bomb was found. Later he told ABC television he was “pretty sure it was a hoax”.

The plane was 90 minutes into the flight when the pilot made the decision to return to Sydney.

It landed in a secure section of the airport and was surrounded by security forces.

Channel Ten TV news reported the incident was classified as a Category 3 emergency – the highest type ever at the airport.

NSW Fire Brigades and the NSW Ambulance Service had a number of vehicles on the scene, and police closed roads leading to the airport.

The flight was rescheduled to fly to Los Angeles tomorrow morning.

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