Plane diverted (que panic)

Reluctant Hero · Plane diverted (que panic)

Woman held over plane diversion

A woman passenger has been arrested after a flight from London to Washington was diverted to Boston because of an on-board disturbance.
Transport officials said the woman, who is about 60 years old, was held in connection with a reported confrontation with the flight crew.

She was carrying hand cream - a banned item - and matches on board the United Airlines flight.

The aircraft was escorted into Logan airport by two jet fighters.

Reports that the woman was carrying a screwdriver and a note referring to al-Qaeda have been denied.

Security officials checked every item of luggage from the plane with sniffer dogs.

'Claustrophobic'

United Flight 923 from Heathrow Airport, with 182 passengers on board, was originally bound for Washington Dulles.

It landed at Logan at about 1020 local time (1420 GMT).

Nenette Day, a spokeswoman for the Federal Bureau of Investigation in Boston, said the woman passenger was apparently claustrophobic and had become disruptive on the flight.

"This isn't just an 'I want another drink kind of thing,' it was a disruption that caused them to divert the plane," she said.

"There are no known links to terrorism regarding this event at this time," Christopher White, a Transportation Security Administration spokesman said.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/americas/4799763.stm

SLG

Sounds like the poor woman was having a panic attack. The rest of the stories have come out of nowhere, or peoples imaginations. Just a natural consequence of the climate of fear that the terrorists and our governments have engendered.

Economist

I liked the line, reported elsewhere, "she may have been in possession of a banned substance"

- Hand lotion Rolling Eyes