An American Airlines flight en route from New York City to New Delhi, India, was turned around over the Caspian Sea on Sunday and landed in Rome after a security concern, which later proved to be “non-credible,” the airline said.
A spokesman for the Leonardo da Vinci International (FCO) Airport told CBS News that the 199 passengers and 15 crew members aboard the aircraft were made aware of the problem while it was over the Caspian Sea. They said it landed at FCO airport because it can cope with this type of incident, however, they did not elaborate on the reason for the change in flight plans.
An American Airlines spokesperson told CBS News Flight 292 was diverted due to a security concern, but did not elaborate.
“The flight landed safely at FCO, and law enforcement inspected and cleared the aircraft to re-depart,” the spokesperson said, adding that the issue was determined to be “non-credible.”
Manish Swarup / AP
The FCO spokesperson said two Italian military fighter jets flanked the plane as it arrived at Rome’s airport.
Fire trucks were visible on the landing strip on one side of the plane after it landed. No injuries were reported. The airport continued to operate normally, the spokesman told the Associated Press.
A spokesperson for American Airlines told CBS News that “safety and security are our top priorities and we apologize to our customers for the inconvenience.”
Neeraj Chopra, one of the passengers on the flight, told the AP that the captain alerted the plane that they needed to turn around about three hours before they were supposed to land in Dehli because of a change in “security status.”
Chopra said he began to stress when the captain later announced that fighter jets would be escorting their plane to Rome
“I felt a little panic of, OK, what’s going on here?” Chopra told the AP. “There’s got to be like something bigger going on here.”
The flight, which departed from John F. Kennedy International Airport, was heading to Indira Gandhi International Airport (DEL) in the capital of India. The flight will stay in Rome overnight to allow for the rest required for the crew before continuing to India as soon as possible on Monday.
