Two Passengers Held at Seattle Airport

Reuters ^ | Wednesday October 31 11:23 AM ET | Reuters

[Koblenz]

SEATTLE (Reuters) - U.S. Customs and FBI (news - web sites) agents in Seattle seized two passengers from a Northwest Airlines Corp. jet inbound from Narita, Japan, on Wednesday and held them for questioning, airport and airline spokespersons said.

Officials kept the rest of the 201 passengers and 17 crew members on board the Boeing 747-200 while the two unidentified men were questioned and their bags searched, said Northwest spokesman Bill Mellon.

``The FBI asked us to hold (the plane) short of the passenger terminal. Customs and FBI agents boarded the flight and have detained two men. They are questioning them and they are checking their carry-on and checked luggage,'' Mellon said.

Seattle-Tacoma International Airport spokeswoman Terry-Ann Mohon said passengers are routinely held aboard the plane during such an incident.

The red-eye flight from Narita had otherwise gone normally, Mellon said.

``The were no problems on the flight. No incidents were reported,'' he said.

Officials at the Seattle FBI office declined to confirm any of the details of the incident.

[Reborn]

FOX news is talking about this right now. Possible anthrax couriers on board. One plane (number 8 northwest airlines) being held in seattle (two passengers) and one plane (another northwest plane) in San Fran. They are hoping to have more info soon.

[noexcuses]

Oh, great. I fly to the East Coast from SEATAC next week. I hear they're laying in an extra supply of rubber gloves for that "special" search...

I've been flying in and out of SeaTac regularly the past couple of weeks with no problem. However in Houston I was held up by the security guards making all the guys take off their boots and belts. Fortunately my underwire didn't set off any alarms!!

It has been my experience that the smaller airports are being more intrusive - I watched a counter agent unpack an elderly woman's suitcase one garmet at a time - and this suitcase was to be checked not carried on!

[Diddle E. Squat]

For all you cheese-lovers screaming how the FBI is totally blowing it by looking into the domestic angle on anthrax, here may be the connection. If these are anthrax COURIERS from the Phillipines, wouldn't that point to their possibly delivering to a domestic partner for distribution? Ala the Schippers rumor of a Phillipine connection to Nichols, of an Iraqi/Mcveigh alliance. So maybe the Feds are leaking their domestic angle of investigation, while staying mum on the foreign angle, since their sources on the foreign angle may be more easily compromised.

Just a thought, but I'm getting kinda tired of all these knee-jerk "nuke-em all now" and "the FBI jackboots are totally incompetent" simplistic soundbites(isn't that what we accuse the Dems of doing?)

[Salvation]

From the last two paragraphs of the local article:
Meanwhile, another Northwest Airlines jet has been detained at San Francisco International Airport, KIRO 7 Eyewitness News reports.

Flight 28 -- also from Narita -- is being held because of the fear a courier might be carrying anthrax on the flight.

Carrying anthrax???? Or something else?

[Reborn]

Both planes come from Japan. San Fran flight is number 28.

[anniegetyourgun]

YEP....looks like it is terrorist related.

[demnomo]

I'm searching channels, listening to the radio--nothing yet, at least not on the San Francisco Bay Area stations. I just spoke with my neighbor yesterday afternoon. She said that she was going to SFO early Wednesday morning to pick up her husband who was returning from a family funeral in Japan. She was relieved to have him on a red-eye flight since she thought that those were less likely to be hi-jacked! She was also happy to have him home early on Halloween. They are a wonderful Japanese-American family. I pray that all is well and that this is a different flight than the one my neighbor spoke of.

[TruthNtegrity]

At 12:56 EST, it's not known. Fox News just announced that the FBI is involved with both flights. Jets are being held at the end of the runway. Suspected "anthrax carriers" on both flights. That's all I've heard so far. They just to Ari Fleischer and unemployment benefits, etc.

[demnomo]

Both planes come from Japan. San Fran flight is number 28.

Where are you getting your info about the SFO flight?

[Servant of the Nine]

probably just running a hazmat check on a tube of wasabi.

A tube of wasabi is hazmat.

So9

[chuck allen]

It's been all over Fox for about half an hour. 1 plane in Seattle and 1 in S.F. being detained for possible anthrax couriers on board.

[demnomo]

Grrrr. My cable doesn't offer Fox News! Please keep me informed. I'm so worried that my neighbor's husband may be on that plane!

[Rebelbase]

Quick wasabi story: A couple of years ago I had dinner at a Japanese place with a friend of mine who had never eaten sushi before. The order arrives and he is watching me dip the roll in soy sauce and then smear some wasabi on it. He follows suit, except he puts half the wasabi pile on his first bite. A couple of seconds later he is slapping the table, knocking off the silverware and had eyes wider than Betty Davis.

After he regained his speech he said he could smell the colors in the room.

[concerned about politics]

I'd like to know how they make horseradish into powder. I tried drying some and grinding it, bit it lost all it's flavor. It just tasted like a weed or something!

[Rheo]

Did you hear the reporter on Fox say that the hospital worker who died of inhilation anthrax was in the Phillipines last month???...Ari did not confirm tho..said they are checking all her recent travel.

[CedarDave]

Could she or a person next to her on the plane been a courier?

[AnnO]

Gee, I sure hope this turns out to be Anthrax couriers as then it will stop the speculation that it is a homegrown terrorist attack. Ari still on Fox giving press conference and perhaps we will learn more after this press conference is over....bet the great gang at FNC are working hard to get more information from Seattle and San Francisco.

[Publius6961]

Fortunately my underwire didn't set off any alarms!!

You got underwire boots?
I never heard of those...

[Publius6961]

May not be anthrax.
Do you think if they have suicide smallpox carriers the authorities will want to publicize it?

I would worry about those planes being quarantined.

[TheErnFormerlyKnownAsBig]

It's an underwire belt to hold up your stomach.LOL