A Continental Airlines flight en route from Houston, Texas, to Washington's Dulles Airport was diverted to North Carolina Wednesday due to a bomb threat.
Continental Express flight 3006 left Houston at 7:25 a.m. (CST) this morning and was forced to land at Piedmont Triad International Airport near Greensboro, North Carolina.
Airport officials say a threatening message was written on a restroom mirror which prompted the Transportation Security Administration (TSA) to direct an emergency landing "out of an abundance of caution."
FBI agents and local law enforcement officers met the Embraer 145 regional jet, carrying 45 passengers and three crew members. Stephanie Freeman, spokesperson for Piedmont Triad International Airport (PTIA), said all 48 people were safely evacuated from the aircraft.
Continental Airlines issued a statement regarding the incident: "Continental Express flight 3006, operated by ExpressJet Airlines, from Houston to Washington-Dulles diverted to Greensboro, N.C., for security reasons. The flight landed safely, without incident at approximately 10:45 a.m. (EST). The aircraft, a regional jet Embraer-145, carried 45 customers and 3 crew members. Continental and ExpressJet are cooperating with local authorities."
TSA also issued a statement, saying it was "monitoring a situation where a threatening message was written on a lavatory mirror on board…"
A supervisor in the Salt Lake City Continental Airlines reservations office commented on the incident, saying it had little effect on local operations.
Sources: digtriad.com and msnbc.com
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Comments
When will the media get it straight?
This is not Continental Airlines, this is ExpressJet. Different company, different employees, and different airplanes.
Yes they have a feed agreement with CAL however they are still ExpressJet NOT Continental!
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