Passenger flight diverted to New Mexico after 'security threat'

Sunday, May 8, 2011 

File photograph of a Delta Airlines Boeing 737-800.
Image: Pylon757.

U.S. security officials have cleared a Delta Airlines passenger jet diverted to New Mexico to take off again because "no suspicious items" had been found. The aircraft was reportedly initially diverted after the crew found a note with the word "bomb" written on it in the lavatory, but security officials have declined to comment on the nature of the "potential security threat".

Delta Airlines 1706 — a domestic U.S. flight between Detroit and San Diego — diverted to Albuquerque International Sunport in Albuquerque, where the Boeing 737-800 aircraft was taken to a remote area of the airport. Passengers were interviewed by FBI agents, and dogs searched all the luggage on board. No one has yet been arrested, but the note has been determined to be hoax.

One passenger said the captain spoke over the intercom, saying: "We're getting ready to divert. It's probably a hoax, but we've got to take this very seriously." After being cleared of any threat, the aircraft was expected to continue to San Diego.

Sources

• "Possible Security Threat Diverts San Diego-Bound Plane to New Mexico" — Fox News, May 8, 2011
• "Flight diverted to NM over 'security threat'" — Associated Press, May 8, 2011
• "Flight Status for DL 1706" — Flightstats, May 8, 2011
• Elisha Anderson. "Nothing suspicious found on Detroit Delta flight, officials say" — Detroit Free Press, May 8, 2011