Concerns About U.S. Passenger Send Jumbo Jet Back to London

Concerns About U.S. Passenger Send Jumbo Jet Back to London

From Jawa:

Via CNS News

Concerns about an American passenger prompted U.S. officials to bar a British Airways flight from U.S. airspace on Friday. The plane was heading from London to Mexico City when it was forced to turn around.

British press reports said Flight 243, a Boeing 747, had been airborne for two hours when U.S. officials discovered a “data discrepancy" involving a 55-year-old man who was traveling on a U.S. passport. The nature of the data discrepancy was not revealed, the Associated Press reported.

"This is the first time anyone can recall a British flight being banned from U.S. airspace," a security official told the British newspaper, The Sun.

British press reports said the incident shows how nervous U.S. authorities are following the attempted bombing of a U.S.-bound flight from Amsterdam on Christmas Day.