A Southwest Airlines flight traveling from Los Angeles to Austin, Texas, landed safely in Phoenix Monday after a telephone bomb threat.
Phoenix Sky Harbor International Airport officials say law enforcement in Los Angeles requested assistance from Phoenix police to check out the threat Monday afternoon.
“The FBI and law enforcement partners are responding to a telephonic bomb threat made this afternoon regarding a specific flight,” FBI Los Angeles spokeswoman Laura Eimiller said in a statement. “The flight, destined for Texas, departed LAX at 2:12 p.m. and was diverted to Phoenix for further investigation.”
Eimiller said the aircraft is being directed to an isolated area at the airport and the FBI and law enforcement partners are responding to conduct an investigation.
A North American Aerospace Defense Command (NORAD) spokesperson said two fighter jets from Davis-Monthan Air Force Base monitored the Southwest flight via air patrol.
Airport officials didn’t immediately provide any details.
Flight 2675 had 143 passengers aboard.
Television footage shows passengers leaving the airplane and being loaded onto several buses. All of the passengers were being interviewed by investigators, said Sgt. Steve Martos, a Phoenix police spokesman.
It would probably take “a couple hours” for a bomb squad and police dogs to go through the plane, Martos said.
A spokeswoman for Dallas-based Southwest Airlines Co. said the airline would accommodate passengers with other flights.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
Via: Fox News
