DECEMBER 2003 last week : (AEROMEXICO FLIGHT 490 IS CANCELLED DUE TO TERROR THREAT; THERE IS ALSO SOME CONFUSION OVER ISSUE OF LANDING RIGHTS) ... a scheduled U.S.-bound flight from Mexico was canceled because of security concerns.
“The government of Mexico made the decision to cancel Aeromexico Flight 490 after the U.S. government shared threat information with the Mexican government,” Department of Homeland Security spokesman Brian Roehrkasse said.
Previous reports said the plane turned around in midair, but Roehrkasse and Mexican officials said it never took off. Roehrkasse denied that the U.S. government told Mexico it would refuse the plane landing rights.
However Agustin Gutierrez, Mexico’s presidential spokesman, said the flight was canceled after United States authorities said they would refuse to allow it to land. He also said Mexico did not receive convincing information for the cancellation. “The question is what threat?” Gutierrez said. “This question must be answered by Homeland Security. If we are going to have a good climate of cooperation, the least that we can hope for are reasons.”— “U.K. Flight to U.S. Canceled After British Airways Cancels Flight to D.C. a Day After U.S. Authorities Board Its Jet at Dulles Airport,” The Associated Press, January 1, 2004
DECEMBER 30, 2003 Tuesday : (VALDEZ, ALASKA : OIL TANKER TERMINAL IS CLOSED DUE TO TERROR THREAT) The threat of terrorism also prompted the closure Tuesday night of the oil tanker terminal in Valdez, Alaska. The terminal remained closed Thursday, Lt. Cmdr. Jeff Carter of the Coast Guard said.Tankers load Prudhoe Bay oil destined for the Lower 48 states at Valdez, the end of the 800-mile pipeline, which carries 17 percent of the nation’s domestic oil supply. ...[this week] security was strengthened in the Prince William Sound community after U.S. officials said al-Qaida operatives could target remote sites such as oil facilities in Alaska. Officials also said then they could not corroborate a report about an al-Qaida threat against the Valdez oil terminal.— “U.K. Flight to U.S. Canceled After British Airways Cancels Flight to D.C. a Day After U.S. Authorities Board Its Jet at Dulles Airport,” The Associated Press, January 1, 2004
DECEMBER 31, 2003 Wednesday : (DULLES AIRPORT : BRITISH AIRWAYS JET IS BOARDED - FLIGHT #?- WOMAN IS QUESTIONED) U.S. authorities were acting on intelligence information and not just suspicious passenger names when they boarded a British Airways jet on New Year’s Eve at nearby Dulles International Airport, a national security official [later ] said [on] Thursday. ...As for the New Year’s Eve flight, a U.S. official said no evidence of terrorism was found and the major consequence appeared to be inconvenience, with the 247 passengers waiting more than 3 1/2 hours before getting off the plane while some of them were questioned.”We had concerns with individuals on the flight, but threat reporting information led us to make the decision to have the flight escorted,” the national security official said, speaking only on condition of anonymity. “It was fact-related,” the official said, and not just connected to the passenger list the United States now receives from airlines flying to the United States.
The official added the long delay at Dulles was caused in part by weapons screening of passengers, and partly because authorities waited for some law enforcement specialists to arrive.
Transportation Security Administration spokeswoman Jennifer Marty said officials began departing from the plane about 10:30 p.m., long after the 7:06 p.m. landing.The plane was kept several hundred feet from the terminal during the questioning.
Passenger David Litwick told WJLA-TV in Washington that he and his wife were not questioned, but at least one other passenger was. Litwick said four FBI agents spoke to a woman who appeared to be from the Middle East, repeatedly asking her why she was not traveling with her husband. — “U.K. Flight to U.S. Canceled After British Airways Cancels Flight to D.C. a Day After U.S. Authorities Board Its Jet at Dulles Airport,” The Associated Press, January 1, 2004