Emergency Closes Airport

[DBAHO]

SYDNEY International Airport has been shut down under a Code 3 security alert after a United Airlines plane returned to the airport this afternoon due to a security breach.

 

The pilot of the Los Angeles-bound flight UA840 decided to return 90 minutes after taking off when threatening notes were reportedly discovered at both the Sydney terminal and on the aircraft.

 

The aircraft was cordoned off by emergency vehicles and all 246 passengers and crew were being disembarked.

 

The airline said the decision to return was made when "an object which raised some security suspicions was found was found on board".

 

United said passengers were expected to fly out again at 11am tomorrow.

 

Sydney radio 2UE said reports from Canberra said the emergency was "some kind of bomb hoax".

 

Radio 2GB reported a fire in the hydraulics might have caused the flight to be aborted.

 

The plane landed about 5.45pm (AEST).

 

NSW Fire Brigades and the NSW Ambulance Service had multiple vehicles on the scene, and police had closed roads leading to the airport.

[southsider2k5]

Any follow up on this? What ended up being the object??

[DBAHO]

Any follow up on this?  What ended up being the object??

Here's the story,

 

THE identity of a hoaxer who threatened to blow up a United Airlines flight remains a mystery after crew and passengers were cleared of involvement tonight.

 

NSW Police have confirmed the bomb threat, written on a sick bag, that forced Los Angeles-bound United Airlines flight 840 to return to Sydney this afternoon, was not genuine.

 

"We have been carrying out our investigations since the plane landed and I'm quite satisfied that it is a hoax," Botany local area command Superintendent Peter O'Brien said.

 

"There have been no persons detained and our specific screening process happened without incident."

 

Supt O'Brien also said passengers and crew aboard the flight were cleared of writing the note that sparked a massive mid-air security scare.

 

"Every crew member and every passenger had to undergo our specific screening process, and all those persons have been processed without incident," Supt O'Brien said.

 

However, he said that screening process did not include a handwriting analysis of all passengers and crew.

 

The note, found near the aircraft's toilet, "implied that there might be a bomb on board", federal Transport Minister John Anderson said earlier.

 

The flight left Sydney International Airport at about 3pm (AEST) today with 246 passengers and 18 crew on board.

 

Ninety minutes into the trip, the jet's captain aborted the flight after the note was found by another passenger and "handed in", Mr Anderson said.

 

The pilot told reporters tonight he had made the decision to turn back to Sydney, saying he had followed United Airlines' policy and it had not been a matter for Australian authorities.

 

Mr Anderson said the pilot had acted "entirely responsibly" in deciding to turn back to Sydney after the note was found.

 

"The pilot in command ... took what he believed to be the right course of action and we entirely respect that," Mr Anderson said.

 

The Boeing 747 landed safely just after 5.45pm (AEST).