Two Air France Planes Diverted After Threats

Two Air France flights en route to Paris from the United States of America were diverted because of a bomb threat and a security incident have landed safely.

The flights “were subjects of anonymous threats received after their respective takeoffs”, the airline said in a statement.

Flight 65, an Airbus A-380 that departed from Los Angeles landed safely in Salt Lake City, where passengers and crew were being taken off the plane and escorted into the terminal, an FAA spokesman said.

Air France says passengers grounded in Halifax will be put on Flight AF4093 at 7 p.m. AT today, scheduled to arrive at Charles de Gaulle airport in Paris at 6 a.m. local time Thursday.

Air France said the authorities were tracking the source of the phone calls. The flight was carrying 497 passengers and crew who were evacuated from the plane upon landing, according to an airport official. Canadian police will search the aircraft and luggage using police dogs, and the airport is “working closely” with them, Halifax Airport said in separate Twitter posts.

The Federal Bureau of Investigation said in a statement that authorities found no credible threat. The airline has taken commercial measures to enable passengers who booked a ticket for flying between 17 and 22 November to defer their flight free of additional charges.

Kathleen Ingley of Phoenix, Arizona said that she and other passengers of flight 65 were finishing their dinner when the air pressure in the cabin began to change.

The caller made bomb threats against both flights, according to CNN.

He says that is when he started to look for answers online and learned shortly after his flight was diverted because a bomb threat came in.

One was diverted to Salt Lake City global Airport about 45 minutes after leaving Los Angeles.

Nerves are on edge following last week’s terror attacks in Paris that killed at least 129 people.

Meanwhile, invesigators on Wednesday were looking for a second assailant on the run from the Paris attacks, the French prosecutor’s office said.

“I think it was the best option for the crew, they couldn’t continue if there was any risk of having a bomb”, she said after disembarking. Once on the ground, the passengers were loaded on buses that were already waiting for them.

It is reported one of the planes has been cleared to fly and passengers are being boarded onto the flight again.