Airplanes land in Atlanta after bomb threats

Airplanes land in Atlanta after bomb threats

Both aircraft were eventually cleared after the scare. Police say the threats came from Twitter, but did not go into more detail.

Authorities did not find any bombs on two airplanes that were diverted to Atlanta after online threats forced the planes to land on Saturday.

The all-clear was announced 90 minutes after the jets landed at about 3:20 p.m. at Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport, according to an NBC News report.

Fighter jets were scrambled to escort the planes to the airport after finding the bomb threats on the social media sharing site Twitter.

The flights — Delta Flight 1156 from Portland, Oregon, and Southwest Flight 2492 from Milwaukee — safely landed at 1:45 p.m. local time, and they were promptly evacuated to allow bomb squads and canine units to scour the plane. Flight 2492 was taken to a remote part of the airport to rescreen both the passengers and the aircraft.

Southwest Airlines declined to comment on the security situation.

The FBI said that the flights were safely on the ground and explosive units were taking the necessary precautions by sweeping the aircraft and debriefing passengers.

Authorities said the threats were suspicious enough to cause authorities to scramble jets and divert the planes. The Twitter account in question had no followers and has since been suspended, according to a report from The Independent.

The incident caused a runway to be temporarily closed, which caused delays for travelers.

The jets were F-16s which came from McEntire Joint National Guard Base in South Carolina.

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