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O'Hare-Bound Flight Grounded Due To Security Concern
Air Traffic Controllers Order Plane Back

POSTED: 4:07 PM CST January 9, 2004
UPDATED: 4:55 PM CST January 9, 2004

CHICAGO -- A United Express flight that which had flown from Chicago to Omaha, Neb., earlier in the day, was grounded in Omaha before returning to Chicago because of a security concern Friday afternoon.

NBC5 reported that a flight attendant going through the plane before takeoff found putty with wires sticking out of it in a lavoratory aboard the plane and the pilots grounded the aircraft as a result. United Express spokesman Jeff Green told NBC5 that investigators tested the putty and found that it was not dangerous.

The flight was scheduled to stop in Chicago at 12:30 p.m. and continue on to St. Louis. The Omaha-to-Chicago leg of the flight was flight No. 7129. The Chicago-to-St. Louis leg of the flight was flight No. 7111.

Because of the cancellation, passengers waiting for the flight in Chicago first were told there would be a 2-hour delay and then were forced to take other flights.

NBC5 reported that a flight attendant going through the plane before takeoff found putty with wires sticking out of it in a lavoratory aboard the plane and the pilots grounded the aircraft as a result. United Express spokesman Jeff Green told NBC5 that investigators tested the putty and found that it was not dangerous.

I wonder if it had a blasting cap or detonator. Secondly, why would somebody even attempt this considering it probably had the same risk as planting an actual bomb. The same element of terror was induced.

re:8785 (about last paragraph)

It says the return flight is 7111, when I read the Slurpee post 7-11 was my first thought.

We all use fritz, but it isn't in my desk dictionary (old) and when I did a Google search for fritz, on the first page of sites, there is a chemical site. I can't open the foreign sites with this computer, there were two there worth checking, but it froze me up.

I don't know the time line on the Slurpee post, but it sure said that something was not working and we have two planes on the ground, defeating their plans, if that is what they were up to.

Ruth