American Airlines flight lands in Rome after ‘alleged bomb scare’

ROME: An American Airlines flight from New York to New Delhi was diverted to Rome Sunday afternoon following an “alleged bomb scare,” an Italian airport spokesman said.

The Boeing plane carrying 199 passengers plus crew landed at Rome’s Fiumicino airport at 5:22 pm (1622 GMT) without incident.

The US Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) confirmed the plane had landed safely “after the crew reported a security issue”.

The flight was escorted by two military fighter planes, the Italian airport spokesman said, and “all passengers were disembarked and received assistance” at Rome’s airport.

Airport operations were not affected, the same source said.

The flight took off from New York’s John F. Kennedy International Airport on Saturday at around 8:11 pm local time (01:11 GMT Sunday), according to flight tracking website Flight Aware.

American Airlines is one of the largest US air carriers, and is headquartered in Fort Worth, Texas.

The airline did not immediately respond to an AFP request for comment.

Its international operations serve more than 60 countries outside of the United States, according to the airline’s website.