By MEGHAN KENEALLY and JOSH MARGOLIN7 minutes ago
An Air France plane was escorted to JFK Airport in New York City this morning after an anonymous threat was made against the flight -- one of several threats made to multiple airplanes bound for different U.S. airports, law enforcement officials told ABC News.
The FBI said the plane has since been checked and cleared with "no incidents or hazards reported on board the flight by either the passengers or its crew."
Authorities said that the decision to have the plane escorted by two fighter jets was done "out of an abundance of caution" after the Maryland State Police McHenry Barrack, in Garrett County received an anonymous call of a “chemical weapons threat” aboard Air France Flight 22, which was en route from Paris to New York City airport.
The threat was not considered to be credible as law enforcement and aviation officials told ABC News that they are responding to multiple, unconfirmed threats to multiple airplanes bound for different airports.
As for the Air France flight, two American fighter jets scrambled to accompany the New York-bound flight as it headed towards the airport. The tip was called in at 6:45 a.m. on an untraceable line and the caller did not identify himself, a senior federal official told ABC News.
The two F15 planes were scrambled and followed the plane into U.S. airspace, but they flew in a way so that the passengers and crew would not be able to see the military planes, the sources said.
The caller said that four flights had devices on board -- but only specified the JFK-bound Air France flight.
The Airbus A-330 has since landed and was taken between two runways and locked down while the threat is investigated.
A police dispatch that was sent out after the jets were scrambled noted that the area where the plane was taken is generally known as the "hijack site" because it is the area used in such scenarios. During an initial investigation, nothing dangerous has been found on board, the federal official told ABC.
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