Threat against EVA Air plane a false alarm

[Aeroplane]

Threat against EVA Air plane a false alarm: airline

2015/05/27 11:59:32

(From local TV station Sky2's coverage)

Los Angeles, May 26 (CNA) A threat targeting an EVA Air passenger plane has been confirmed to be a false alarm following an investigation by U.S. authorities, the airline said Tuesday.

The plane was returned to EVA Air by the FBI and airport police after they jointly conducted a four-hour check and found nothing suspicious on board.

The investigation was carried out after the U.S. Federal Aviation Administration received an anonymous call threatening Flight BR12 from Taipei to Los Angeles while the plane was in the air.

According to Taiwan's Civil Aeronautics Administration, the caller said chemical weapons were on the plane, which was carrying 305 passengers and 18 crew members and landed safely at Los Angeles International Airport at 3:30 p.m. on Tuesday.

Han Chen-hua (韓振華), a Civil Aeronautics Administration official, said U.S. authorities have received several threats against U.S.-bound airplanes in recent days, all of which have proved to be hoaxes.

(By Oscar Wu and Flor Wang)

 

[Aeroplane]

EVA Air plane target of chemical weapons threat: official

Central News Agency
2015-05-27 10:50 AM

Taipei, May 27 (CNA) An EVA Air flight from Taipei to Los Angeles arrived safely at Los Angeles International Airport on Wednesday morning Taipei time after someone called in saying chemical weapons were on board, a Civil Aeronautics Administration (CAA) official reported Wednesday.

Han Chen-hua, a CAA section chief, said that EVA Air reported to the CAA that it was notified by the U.S. Federal Aviation Administration that chemical weapons may be aboard the plane and that the aircraft and the 305 passengers on board were being checked.

Han said several anonymous calls threatening international flights as they headed to airports in New York, New Jersey and Massachusetts have also been received by American authorities in recent days.

It was not clear if the threats against flights to the northeastern part of the United States were connected to the threat made against the EVA Air flight.

According to foreign wire service reports, Flight BR12 landed safely at 3:30 p.m. on Tuesday Los Angeles time (6:30 a.m. Wednesday morning in Taiwan) and that passengers were let off the plane beginning two hours later after checks were conducted.

The FBI said that nothing dangerous was found in the aircraft, the AP reported. The investigation into the person or group responsible was ongoing, the report said.

(By Wen Kui-hsiang and Lilian Wu)

 

[Aeroplane]

FBI, police checking threat to EVA Air plane at LA airport

Associated Press
2015-05-27 10:42 AM

Central News Agency

LOS ANGELES (AP) — The FBI and airport police were investigating a threat to a flight from Taiwan that landed at Los Angeles International Airport on Tuesday.

EVA Air Flight 12 was on the tarmac at the airport on Tuesday afternoon while authorities investigated, airport police Sgt. Belinda Joseph said.

The FBI said in a statement that the threat came by telephone, but neither the agency nor airport officials released details about it.

The flight landed at the Los Angeles airport as scheduled at about 3:40 p.m. FBI spokeswoman Laura Eimiller said passengers would be evacuated, their luggage screened and the plane swept by bomb sniffing dogs.

The threat comes a day after at least half a dozen other threats were made by phone to international flights at airports in New York, New Jersey and Massachusetts.

Authorities said Monday's threats may have come from the same source and did not turn out to be credible.

In one case, U.S. military jets escorted an Air France flight into New York City after someone claimed a chemical weapon was aboard the aircraft, the FBI said.