A passenger was escorted off a plane after the FBI received a tip that a possible hijacker was on board. However the passenger in question was not arrested.
When the FBI received a call about a possible hijacker on Alaska Airlines Flight 819 from Kona, Hawaii, two F-15 military jets were sent to escort the flight into Seattle, according to the Associated Press.
When the flight landed, FBI agents, the Port of Seattle police and Transportation Security Administration were waiting for the passenger in question. The police entered the jet through the back stairs and the man, who spent most of the flight sleeping, was escorted off the plane. Upon interviewing the man, FBI agents did not make an arrest.
"We're not anticipating an arrest," Seattle FBI spokeswoman Ayn Dietrich said according to the Associated Press.
The agents spoke to the man for almost two hours and he was very cooperative.
"I can tell you any threats or tips we receive we take seriously in case they're a credible threat," Dietrich said. "We certainly get a number of calls that turn out to be not credible."
The FBI is now trying to find out more information about the caller who notified the Honolulu FBI office about a possible hijacker on board.
"We reserve the right to investigate what appears to be a hoax phone call," FBI spokesman Tom Simon told AP. "We'll let the world know if any charges are filed.
Hoax calls to the FBI are common, but it is a serious offense and making a false statement is a federal crime.
"The FBI gets lots of hoax phone calls but something that rises to this level is not something that we're going to take lightly. A hoax phone call of this nature wastes a lot of resources."
The crew on board the flight were notified about the potential threat but they did not notice anything unusual.
Following the removal of the man, the rest of the passengers got off the flight as usual. The plane was searched for explosives or other strange objects but nothing was found.
This article is copyrighted by Travelers Today, the travel news leader
