A plane has been evacuated and another one searched at John F. Kennedy International Airport in New York after a bomb threat was called in on Monday evening. Authorities say the planes have now been given the all clear.
Passengers on board Delta Flight 468, which had just landed from San Francisco, were escorted off the aircraft away from terminals and moved onto heated buses, passenger Richie Greenwood wrote on Twitter. He said they were made aware of the incident as the plane landed, but there was apparently no unusual activity on board.
Port Authority spokesman Joe Pentangelo told the Associated Press that the flight landed at JFK Airport just after 7:40 p.m. Monday. It was then surrounded by emergency vehicles on the tarmac.
Pentangelo said the plane was taken to a remote part of the runway where it was being swept for explosives. He says passengers were taken by bus to the main terminal where they were interviewed. He said the telephone threat was made while the plane was still in the air, yet he did not know who received the threat.
Delta released a statement Monday evening to NBC News, saying security procedures were being followed after "another airline received a threat regarding Delta Flight 468."
The Delta flight departed San Francisco Monday at 11:45 a.m. A flight with the same number was scheduled to leave JFK Airport for Tel Aviv, Israel, at 9:23 p.m. ET, but that flight was using a different plane. Both planes were searched in the bomb scare, according to Delta.
Delta statement on Flight 468: pic.twitter.com/AtN2cF9A0G— Dan Linden (@DanLinden) January 20, 2015
There have been no injuries or arrests and the passengers have since been released from the airport. Representatives for the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey did not immediately return requests from Mashable for comment.
And #delta468 at #JFK now evacuating plane on Tarmac away from terminals— Richie (@GreenbergRichie) January 20, 2015
Someone called in a threat to this plane and we are being escorted off the plane now— Richie (@GreenbergRichie) January 20, 2015
We're all being held safely on heated buses away from the plane. Port authority police came aboard bus, was a bomb threat #delta468 #JFK— Richie (@GreenbergRichie) January 20, 2015
situation on the runway at JFK: plane surrounded by fire and medical, passengers are walking across the Tarmac pic.twitter.com/i3oifGnLcm— Casey Neistat (@CaseyNeistat) January 20, 2015
Emergency landing for #delta468. Thank you welcoming committee for rolling out the sirens and red carpet. pic.twitter.com/PCtAfZJNiz— Ben (@bgkornblum) July 13, 2014
Bomb threat on flight Delta 468 from SFO to JFK. pic.twitter.com/sznXb42Y6m— Neil Collier (@NeilCollier) January 20, 2015
Additional reporting by the Associated Press