Bomb scare forces New Delhi-bound American Airlines flight to land in Rome, escorted by Italian fighter jets; passengers safe

ROME, Feb 24 — An American Airlines flight from New York to New Delhi was diverted to Rome yesterday afternoon following an “alleged bomb scare”, an Italian airport spokesman said.

The US-based carrier gave no details on the nature of what it called a “possible security concern” on the flight carrying 199 passengers plus crew, which was escorted by two Italian fighter jets before landing.

“The flight landed safely at FCO (Rome), and law enforcement inspected and cleared the aircraft to re-depart,” American Airlines said in a statement.

Mahesh Kumar, an IT consultant aboard the flight, said the pilot announced the diversion to Rome due to “security reasons” about three hours before landing.

“Everyone was afraid. Everyone was staying quiet and obeying the orders,” the 55-year-old from Texas told AFP.

“They asked us to sit down and not to roam around while the fighter jets were near us,” Kumar said, adding that Italian police escorted passengers for a security screening in the airport when they landed.

The flight had taken off from New York’s John F. Kennedy International Airport on Saturday at around 8.11pm local time (0111 GMT yesterday /9.11am Malaysian time yesterday), according to flight tracker FlightAware.