Dallas-bound plane involved in bomb hoax

PHILADELPHIA: Police in Philadelphia found no bomb on a Dallas/Fort Worth-bound US Airways plane Thursday as claimed by an anonymous caller and the FBI plans to file criminal charges against the latter for the hoax.

The US Airways Flight 1267 with 75 passengers and crew was called back to the Philadelphia International Airport after taking off at 7:30 a.m. so the police can arrest a passenger the caller alleged was smuggling an explosive liquid.

The Airbus A-319 landed at 8:50 a.m., was offloaded for inspection by bomb-sniffing dogs and a male passenger in shorts named by the caller as the bomb smuggler was arrested by the police and FBI agents backed by a SWAT team, according to Chief Inspector Joe Sullivan, commander of the Philadelphia Police Department's antiterrorism unit.

The focus of the investigation is now on the prank caller, who was not identified. (Monitoring Desk)