WASHINGTON, Jan 1: US fighter jets on Wednesday escorted a British Airways passenger plane to Washington's international airport, where it was detained on the tarmac so that its 247 passengers could be questioned by federal agents
, The Washington Post said on Thursday.
The paper also said F-16 fighter jets had escorted at least two Air France planes bound for Los Angeles on Tuesday and Wednesday. The Post said the two aircraft were escorted by the fighter jets until they landed at Los Angeles.
Federal Bureau of Investigation spokeswoman Debbie Wierman said some of the passengers on the British plane "were folks that law enforcement officers were interested in speaking with".
A Transportation Security Agency (TSA) spokeswoman said no specific incident on the plane prompted the investigation. No arrests were made, and after five hours all passengers were allowed off the plane, which was kept at all time several hundred feet (scores of meters) from a terminal gate, the daily said.
While the passengers were being questioned by FBI and Transportation Security Agency (TSA) agents, the airliner and all the baggage on board were thoroughly inspected, a TSA spokesman told the daily.
British Airways flight 223, en route from London's Heathrow Airport was escorted to Dulles International Airport by several US fighter jets, a British Airways spokesman told the daily.
On Monday, the US government announced it would require foreign airlines to place armed security guards aboard flights into or out of the US when it deemed it necessary.-AFP
