An American Airlines flight from New York to New Delhi, India, landed safely in Rome on Sunday afternoon after it was diverted due to a security concern, which later proved to be “non-credible,” the airline said.
American Airlines said Flight 292 “was inspected by law enforcement” after landing at Leonardo da Vinci International Airport and “cleared to re-depart.”
It didn’t clarify the cause of the security concern, but added an inspection was required by protocol before the flight could land in New Delhi.
“The flight will stay in Rome overnight to allow for required crew rest before continuing to Delhi as soon as possible tomorrow,” the airline said.
An Associated Press reporter filmed two fighter jets flying over the airport shortly before the unscheduled landing. Fire trucks were visible on the landing strip on one side of the plane after it landed.
Neeraj Chopra, one of the passengers on flight, said the captain alerted the plane that they needed to turn around about three hours before they were supposed to land in Delhi because of a change in “security status.”
Chopra, who was travelling from Detroit, Michigan to visit family, described the mood on the plane as calm after the initial announcement but said he begin to stress when the captain later announced that fighter jets would be escorting their plane to Rome.
“I felt a little panic of, okay, what’s going on here?” Chopra told the AP.
“There’s got to be like something bigger going on here.”
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Chopra said he has a new flight leaving Monday.
“It’s been like a pretty chaotic crazy last 24 hours,” he said.
The airport continued to operate normally, a spokesman with Rome’s airport said.
