Two jets packed with passengers made unscheduled landings at Kennedy Airport this afternoon after an anonymous phone call claimed there were hijackers aboard armed with explosives, sources said.
American Airlines Flt. 24 and Finnair Flt. 5 were taken to a remote part of the airport where police were examining them.
The anonymous caller to the airport’s Port Authority Police desk about 3 p.m. claimed that the hijackers were hiding in the wheel wells of the plane and were wearing gas masks, according to one law-enforcement source.
The source said similar phone calls were made to other US airports including San Antonio.
The pilots of both aircraft reported no indications that anything was wrong.
“The FBI out of an abundance of caution responded to a threat to two inbound aircraft at JFK airport. The flights were searched, and there was a determination made that there was no threat to the planes or their passengers,” an FBI spokesman said.
Additional reporting by Mitchel Maddux