Federal Authorities Interviewing Passengers, Crew of Flight

March 14, 2005
Security concerns on an American Eagle flight from Washington D.C. to Boston on Sunday night were apparently a false alarm caused by a misunderstanding between the pilot and ground control.
BOSTON (AP) -- Security concerns on an American Eagle flight from Washington D.C. to Boston on Sunday night were apparently a false alarm caused by a misunderstanding between the pilot and ground control, according to the airline and the FBI.

''Authorities are investigating, but at this time it appears there is not any credible threat information or any terrorist-related activities involving this incident,'' U.S. Transportation Security Agency spokeswoman Lauren Stover said Sunday night.

Passengers and crew of an American Eagle Flight 4461 were met at the gate by security officials after the plane landed in Boston, following a transmission from the pilot that led federal officials to treat the matter as a ''security event,'' the TSA said.

Mark Hatfield of TSA said the flight landed at about 5:30 p.m. at Logan International Airport.

Hatfield said during the flight, the Federal Aviation Administration ''received a transmission from the pilot of a nature that caused us to take a proactive posture to meet the plane when it landed.''

''It apparently was a false alarm,'' said Gail Marcinkiewicz, a spokeswoman for the FBI's Boston office. ''We didn't even respond.''

The pilot apparently heard a transmission from a general aviation flight that caused him concern, so he informed air traffic control, American Eagle spokesman Tim Wagner said.

But air traffic control misunderstood and thought the concern was about the American Eagle flight, he said. ''The security issue was not even concerning our flight,'' he said.

Wagner did not know the nature of what the American Eagle pilot heard.

Holly Baker of the Federal Aviation Administration said all planes were accounted for.