BANGOR, ME (RNN) - A Cameroonian woman was pulled from an American jetliner and arrested after presenting a note to a flight attendant saying she had a "device" surgically implanted inside her.
Two fighter jets were scrambled to escort U.S. Airways flight 787 bound for Charlotte, NC, from Paris as it was diverted Tuesday to Bangor, ME, because of the security threat.
Rep. Peter King, R-NY, told CNN the woman was set to visit the U.S. for 10 days, but had no checked luggage. Doctors on board the flight examined the woman, but found no evidence of wounds or scars that would indicate recent surgery.
Senior law enforcement officers have said there was no bomb involved.
The North American Aerospace Defense Command confirmed to CNN that two F-15 fighter jets from Barnes Air National Guard Base, 10th fighter wing, in Massachusetts were scrambled to escort the flight.
The plane landed safely just two hours from its original destination, and buses were brought to the scene to take passengers from the plane. The FBI is investigating the disturbance, according to CNN.
Andrew Kobayashi, who was on the plane, told CNN that the passengers were told the unexpected landing was due to a fuel issue and strong headwinds.
"It seemed like not many people had awareness of the
situation when the announcement was made to land," Kobayashi said.
Kobayashi, who was sitting five rows in front of the woman who was arrested, said that the passenger looked "nervous and jittery," but only because she was flying by herself, nothing more alarming.
He also said no one panicked and everyone remained calm, even grumbling at first before the situation became clear.
The Boeing 767 has 179 passengers and 9 crew members. Cameroon is located in Africa between Nigeria and Central African Republic. Cameroon was once a French territory.
The flight landed short of Charlotte "out of an abundance of caution," according to a press release from the Bangor International Airport.
Flight path maps from FlightAware indicate the plane diverted off its path above Nova Scotia, Canada. It left the Paris-Charles de Gaulle Airport at 11:03 a.m. CEST and was expected to arrive at 1:36 p.m. ET.
U.S. Airways now expects the plane to reach Charlotte around 4:27 p.m. ET.
A number of flights have been diverted over the years because of security threats.
In 2010, a Continental Airlines Flight was diverted on its way from Newark Liberty International Airport in New Jersey to Bogota International Airport in Colombia because of a "potential person of interest," according to the TSA.
The passenger was cleared by FBI agents after the flight landed in Florida's Jacksonville International Airport and the flight continued to Bogota with no further incident.
In 2006, a United Airlines flight traveling from San Francisco to Atlanta was diverted to Dallas-Fort Worth International Airport for "security reasons."
An unclaimed backpack was removed from the flight before departure but later an unclaimed Blackberry phone was found on the plane.
Nothing suspicious was found and the plane was back in the air about an hour after it had to land.
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A U.S. Airways plane sits on a runway at Bangor International Airport in Bangor, ME. The plane was flying from Paris to Charlotte, NC, and was diverted because of a security threat. (Source: WLBZ/CNN)
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