Quantcast

The DNAinfo archives brought to you by WNYC.
Read the press release here.

Delta Flight Grounded at JFK Airport for Bomb Scare Leaves for Spain

JFK Airport.
JFK Airport.
View Full Caption
Spencer Platt/Getty Images

QUEENS — The Spain-bound Delta Airlines flight that turned back to John F. Kennedy International Airport after an air marshal discovered suspicious wires in one of the plane's bathrooms safely took off again early Friday morning.

Passengers were questioned about the incident, but no one was taken into custody, an official familiar with the investigation said.

The wires, threaded through black plastic or metal tubing, were discovered aboard Flight 126 as it flew over the Atlantic Ocean just past Cape Cod. About 90 minutes after departing JFK Airport, the plane, a twin-aisle, two-engine Boeing 767-300, made an emergency landing there at 9:37 p.m., according to Delta's website.

"Out of an abundance of caution, Flight 126, JFK-MAD with 206 passengers, returned to JFK at approximately 9:30 p.m. due to a security concern," a Delta spokeswoman said in a statement. "The flight landed safely and was met by local law enforcement."

Passengers were evacuated from the plane at a remote location on the airfield, then transferred to a bus where authorities asked them "what they may or may not have seen," the official said.

Authorities temporarily focused on one woman who had experienced breathing problems on the plane.

"There was some concern that she might've been trying to cause a distraction," the official stated.

Police determined that she had had a panic attack or another medical issue.

An NYPD bomb squad searched the plane and determined that there were no explosives on board.

"It was deemed to be a non-threat," the official said.

Passengers were taken to the terminal, then reboarded the plane early Friday morning. It departed at 3:43 a.m., the Delta website said, and was airborne above the Atlantic Ocean as of 8:40 a.m.