American Airlines flights from New York to New Delhi safely landed in Rome on Sunday afternoon after being decouped due to security concerns.
The airline did not elaborate, but NBC reported that the situation included a bomb threat sent by email. The network cited sources familiar with the situation.
American Airlines said Flight 292 was “tested by law enforcement” after landing at Leonardo da Vinci International Airport and “cleared for a red department store.”
According to NBC, the Federal Aviation Administration said flight crews reported security threats. The airline said that protocols must be tested before the flight lands in New Delhi.
“The flight will remain in Rome overnight to allow for the necessary crew rest before heading to Delhi as soon as possible tomorrow,” the airline said.
An Associated Press reporter filmed two fighter jets flying through the airport shortly before an unplanned landing. After the plane landed, a fire truck was visible in the landing zone on one side of the plane.
Neeraj Chopra, one of the passengers, said the captain announced that the plane had to spin around about three hours before it was supposed to land in New Delhi due to a change in its “security status”.
Chopra, who was traveling from Detroit to visit his family, described the plane’s mood as calm after the initial announcement, but the captain later announced that the fighter plane would escort the plane to Rome When he did, he said he was beginning to feel stressed.
“I felt a bit panicked, OK, what’s going on here?” Chopra told the Associated Press. “There needs to be something bigger going on here.”
Jonathan Bacon, a 22-year-old passenger from Dayton, Ohio, began paying attention to the flight tracker on his previous seatback after the captain announced the announcement of a “repurpose due to security issues” and began paying attention to the plane from New Delhi. I observed a sudden turn. Returning towards Rome.
Bacon said passengers were not connected to the internet for most of the flight, but concluded them with an early report of the situation about two hours before landing.
After landing, Bacon said all passengers were loaded onto the bus and taken to the terminal. There, each passenger and their personal items received additional security screenings that took time to arrive, particularly to feel “slightly elevated.” More than two hours after landing, Bacon and his friends said they were still waiting for their checked baggage.
“It was definitely the longest flight I’ve ever taken to Europe,” Bacon said.
An airport spokesman said it continues to operate normally.
