- American Airlines flight from JFK to Delhi diverts to Rome after a mid-air bomb threat.
- Italian fighter jets escort the plane before its emergency landing at Leonardo da Vinci Airport.
- Passengers endure nearly 15 hours in the air before undergoing security screenings in Rome.
An American Airlines flight from New York’s JFK Airport to Delhi was forced to divert to Rome on Sunday after a bomb threat, landing under the escort of Italian fighter jets.
American Airlines Flight 292, carrying 199 passengers and 15 crew members, was just two hours from its destination when it abruptly turned around over Turkmenistan due to a “possible security issue,” the airline confirmed.
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Passengers first realised something was wrong when the captain announced a diversion for security reasons. The Boeing 787-9 Dreamliner then made a sharp U-turn away from its planned route and back toward Europe.
“I felt a little panic of, OK, what’s going on here?” said Neeraj Chopra, a passenger travelling from Detroit to visit family in India.
The Italian Air Force later confirmed that the diversion was triggered by a suspected bomb on board. As the aircraft approached Italy, two Eurofighter Typhoon warplanes intercepted and escorted it to Rome’s Leonardo da Vinci Airport.
In total, passengers spent nearly 15 hours in the air before finally landing in Rome at around 11:15 a.m. ET on Sunday.
“It was definitely the longest flight to Europe I’ve ever taken,” said Jonathan Bacon, a 22-year-old passenger from Dayton, Ohio.
Upon landing, passengers were taken to the terminal via buses for additional security screenings. However, many were still waiting for their checked baggage more than two hours after arrival.
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American Airlines released a statement assuring that “safety and security are our top priorities,” adding that the airline was cooperating with local authorities and would provide updates as the situation developed.
The bomb threat comes less than two weeks after a separate American Airlines flight in Texas was evacuated and delayed for five hours due to a passenger’s Wi-Fi hotspot named “There is a bomb on the flight.”
