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Authorities in the U.S. city of Philadelphia cleared a U.S. Airways flight of hazardous material Wednesday after it made an emergency landing over an alleged bomb threat, local media said.
A phone call claiming there was a suspicious device on Flight 777 from Shannon, Ireland, came in to the authorities at around 1:30 p.m. (1730 GMT), and the jet landed about 25 minutes later at Philadelphia International Airport and was taken to a secure area for a search, according to WPVI-TV of Philadelphia.
However, the FBI, the Transportation Security Administration and Philadelphia police found nothing suspicious and eventually cleared the plane at around 3:00 p.m (1900 GMT).
U.S. Airways said there were 171 passengers and eight crew members onboard the Boeing-757 plane. [ After the all-clear was given, the plane was brought back to the airport area, as well as the passengers' luggage. There was no report of injuries.
TV pictures showed people disembarking from the plane, which had a number of police vehicles nearby with lights flashing. At least three airport buses have also been brought next to the plane.
The phone call that triggered the alarm was now being investigated. It was unclear who made the call or where the phone call might originate.
Local media reported that "an unknown male" made the phone call, but the information was not confirmed by the authorities. The person who made the phone call could face serious criminal charges.
The plane flew onward to Pittsburgh, its planned destination.
U.S. authorities have recently heightened security after chatters of possible terrorist attacks against U.S. interests were uncovered between high-level al-Qaida leaders.
Washington closed 22 U.S. diplomatic missions in the Middle East region over the weekend due to terror attack threats. The closure of 19 missions has been extended until this Saturday.
The State Department issued a travel warning Tuesday, ordering the departure of non-emergency U.S. government personnel from Yemen.
The department also advised U.S. citizens against traveling to the Arab nation and asked those living there to leave immediately, saying that "the security threat level in Yemen is extremely high."
