Arrow-right Camera
The Spokesman-Review Newspaper
Spokane, Washington  Est. May 19, 1883

No bomb found after Seattle-Oakland flight threat

Terry Collins Associated Press
SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — A bomb threat against an Alaska Airlines flight from Seattle to Oakland, Calif., that originated from a note discovered in a San Francisco airport bookstore was not credible, the FBI said Monday. “At this point, we’re looking to find who was responsible for this note,” said Julianne Sohn, an FBI spokeswoman in San Francisco. No bomb was found aboard Flight 342 after the plane carrying 126 passengers and six crew members landed at Oakland International Airport shortly before 8 a.m. Monday, said Alaska Airlines spokeswoman Bobbie Egan. The threat had surfaced about an hour earlier when a clerk at a bookstore in the nearby San Francisco International Airport discovered a letter containing a threat against the flight, said Mike McCarron, a San Francisco airport spokesman. The clerk called police, and San Francisco officials quickly contacted officials at the Oakland airport, McCarron said. The plane landed about 15 minutes ahead of its scheduled arrival and was met by members of the Transportation Security Administration and the Alameda County sheriff’s department in a remote area of the airport, Egan said. Passengers were taken to a holding area and rescreened as bomb-sniffing dogs inspected luggage on the tarmac, said Oakland airport spokeswoman Joanne Holloway. The aircraft and luggage were eventually cleared and the passengers were later released, Holloway said. The incident remained under investigation.