>>Airbubba LOL. Thanks for the laugh. I am actually in the States at the moment too!<<
OK, you win, and I'll sheepishly (no Scottish jokes) admit to some Irish ancestry <g>...
Back to the bomb threat:
__________________________________
Threat led to lengthy layover
Trip to Atlanta had Irish stop for questioning
By CHARLES YOO
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
After a threatening note found in the toilet of a Frankfurt-to-Atlanta Delta Air Lines flight forced an emergency landing in Ireland Sunday afternoon, passengers underwent three rounds of questioning by authorities.
The 147 passengers had to be fingerprinted and submit their handwriting samples to authorities before Irish police detained a 19-year-old German man in Shannon.
The passengers, who arrived in Atlanta on Monday evening about 28 hours later than scheduled, gave an account of a long wait in Ireland, full of frustration but virtually no panic.
About a couple of hours after leaving Frankfurt, the pilot announced that there was a medical emergency and the plane had to make a landing nearby. But about 10 minutes before the landing, the pilot announced the real reason: The emergency, in fact, was a bomb scare.
"Everybody was in a state of shock. Everyone was so quiet," said James Simmons, 34, of south Atlanta, who was in Frankfurt for a textile trade show.
After landing, the passengers had to exit the plane immediately without any belongings. Simmons and many other passengers simply grabbed the thin blue blankets owned by Delta. Michael Bernstein was barefoot but had to leave his seat without his shoes.
"I saw no anxiety. Everybody was orderly," said Bernstein, 60, of Buckhead, who owns a textile business and also was attending the trade show.
The authorities then bused the passengers to a big hall and began questioning each according to their seat numbers.
"Did you use the toilet? Yes, then which one?" said Jason Roberts, 33, an army captain in South Carolina, recalling one of the questions.
Delta officials would not comment to the media on the layover or threat.
Luckily for them, passengers said, the pilots and Delta employees provided them with up-to-date information about the status of their delay, lessening their frustration.
The passengers, many of whom were from Europe, Asia and North America, were fingerprinted at the airport.
When the questioning ended, the passengers were bused to local hotels, where they were asked to write "Bomb Aboard" each with their left and right hands.
A search of the plane turned up no evidence of a bomb.
Simmons said when the plane landed in Ireland, the local time was 12:20 p.m. By the time they checked into the hotels, it was 10 p.m.
In time, the strangers aboard got to know one another, some exchanging phone numbers.
"They promptly brought food and drinks," said Simmons. "All you can eat, sandwiches, coffee, water and sodas. . . . We were served well."
Police in Shannon said they were questioning the 19-year-old man, who was a passenger on the diverted flight. Police did not identify the man.
Police spokeswoman Sinead O'Hara said the man had been arrested under the Air Navigation and Transport Act but was not charged.
She would not say whether police believed he was the person who left a note in a bathroom suggesting there could be a bomb aboard the plane.
Detectives had questioned the flight's 147 passengers and searched the plane before declaring it safe Sunday night.
In April, a United Airlines flight from London to New York made an emergency landing at Shannon after a crew member found a note with a bomb threat in a seat-back pocket.
Police searched the plane and questioned passengers, but they found nothing suspicious.
http://www.ajc.com/business/content/...0airplane.html