United flight lands in Sydney after bomb scare

A United Airlines flight bound for Los Angeles returned safely to Sydney airport yesterday after a note raising fears of a bomb threat was found on board.

The pilot declared an emergency and decided to return to Sydney after the note was found but few details, including the wording of the note, were available.

"UA Flight 840, carrying 246 passengers, was about 90 minutes out of Sydney when an object which raised some security suspicions was found on board," the airline said in a statement.

"As a precaution, the captain immediately returned to Sydney, landing without incident at 5.50 p.m. (0750 GMT)," it said.

Australian Deputy Prime Minister and Transport Minister John Anderson said the note suggested a bomb had been planted.

"My understanding is that it was found on board, it was some words that implied there might have been a bomb on board," Mr Anderson told Australian Broadcasting Corp. radio.

He said the note appeared to have been written on either an envelope or air sickness bag. It was found by another passenger near a toilet and handed in to the flight crew.

"It is my hope that it is a hoax but we don't run those risks. Safety comes first," Mr Anderson said.

Passengers disembarked after the aircraft returned and were taken by bus to the main terminal.

Local media initially gave confused reports about why the Boeing 747-400 had turned back, including saying a silent alarm had been triggered in the cockpit, indicating a possible attempt to take over the aircraft.

A spokesman for Australia's largest airport said a television report that an attempt had been made to break into the cockpit was not true.

Television footage showed several emergency vehicles lined up along one of the airport's runways while rush-hour traffic around the airport was at a standstill.

Other footage from a road traffic helicopter showed the jet taxiing along one of Sydney airport's main runways after it landed.

The plane was taken to a remote corner of the airport, where it sat in darkness surrounded by emergency vehicles.

Passengers would resume their flight to Los Angeles at 11.30 a.m. (0130 GMT) today, United said.

Mr Anderson said investigations were underway.

The incident was the latest in a string that have rattled passengers already skittish after the September 11, 2001, hijacked aircraft attacks in the US.

In the most serious incident, a man armed with sharpened wooden stakes tried to hijack and crash a Qantas airways domestic flight not long after it took off from Melbourne airport, Australia's second largest, in May 2003.