In this frame grab taken from WABC-TV video, passengers disembark an Emirates airliner into an awaiting bus at John F. Kennedy International Airport in New York after having been escorted from the Canadian border to New York City by two military fighter jets.
/ AP photo
WASHINGTON (AP) — A commercial passenger jet carrying cargo from Yemen was being escorted from the Canadian border to New York City by two military fighter jets, U.S. officials said. The plane landed shortly after 3:30 p.m. EDT. The officials said there is no known threat associated with the plane, but it was escorted to John F. Kennedy International Airport as a precautionary move.
Authorities on Friday were investigating whether suspicious packages shipped aboard cargo planes from Yemen to the U.S. were part of a terrorist plot.
FBI spokesman Richard Kolko said the plane — Emirates Airlines Flight 201 which took off from Dubai — was met at JFK by FBI and Port Authority police. He said the action was being taken solely because the plane was carrying cargo from Yemen.
John Cornelia, a spokesman for U.S. North American Aerospace Defense Command, said the airliner was escorted by a Canadian fighter to the U.S. border, where two U.S. fighters took over.
