Southwest Flight Diverted: Bomb Threat Forces LA to Texas Plane Into Emergency Landing (VIDEO)
A Southwest flight has been diverted on Monday after a bomb threat was received by authorities via telephone.
The flight was traveling from Los Angeles to Texas and was carrying 143 passengers when it was diverted to make an emergency landing in Phoenix so that police could assess the threat.
U.S. fighter jets were also dispatched to monitor the situation and accompany the flight to its new destination.
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Southwest Airlines flight 2675 landed in Phoenix at about 3.30 p.m. local time, and all passengers were quickly evacuated from the aircraft, according to the Phoenix Sky Harbor International Airport and Southwest Airlines.
Bomb squads were then allowed onto the jet, and police dogs were used to help sweep the aircraft as police interviews the passengers from the plane.
However, after an extensive search of the plane, police spokesperson Sergeant Steve Martos later announced via Twitter that the search had found "nothing of concern."
Panic had been sparked after the Los Angeles Police Department received a threat from an unidentified person who claimed a bomb had been placed on an aircraft traveling from Los Angeles to Texas, according to the FBI.
An investigation is now underway to identify who was responsible for the threat, according to the FBI's spokesperson in L.A., Laura Eimiller.
Michael Kucharek, a spokesman for the North American Aerospace Defense Command (NORAD), has said, "It was serious enough that we diverted aircraft from their original flight plan," according to Reuters.
Upon the emergency landing the Boeing 737-700 in question was led to a separate part of the airport isolated away from the main terminal and other planes.
All the passengers delayed by the bomb threat will now ben put on other Austin-bound planes as soon as possible, Southwest Airlines spokeswoman Katie McDonald said.
Here is a video news report into the bomb threat:
