[Scan-DC] 121.5

[James Richardson]

Federal Authorities Review Flight's Loss Of Ground Control Contact

POSTED: 7:52 pm EST March 13, 2005
UPDATED: 8:27 pm EST March 13, 2005

BOSTON -- Security concerns on an American Eagle flight from Washington D.C.
to Boston on Sunday night were apparently a false alarm caused by a
misunderstanding between the pilot and ground control, according to the
airline and the FBI.

"Authorities are investigating, but at this time it appears there is not any
credible threat information or any terrorist-related activities involving
this incident," U.S. Transportation Security Agency spokeswoman Lauren
Stover said Sunday night.

Passengers and crew of an American Eagle Flight 4461 were met at the gate by
security officials after the plane landed in Boston, following a
transmission from the pilot that led federal officials to treat the matter
as a "security event," the TSA said. 

Mark Hatfield of TSA said the flight landed at about 5:30 p.m. at Logan
International Airport. Hatfield said during the flight, the Federal Aviation
Administration "received a transmission from the pilot of a nature that
caused us to take a proactive posture to meet the plane when it landed."

"It apparently was a false alarm," said Gail Marcinkiewicz, a spokeswoman
for the FBI's Boston office. "We didn't even respond."

The pilot apparently heard a transmission from a general aviation flight
that caused him concern, so he informed air traffic control, American Eagle
spokesman Tim Wagner said. But air traffic control misunderstood and thought
the concern was about the American Eagle flight, he said. "The security
issue was not even concerning our flight," he said.

Wagner did not know the nature of what the American Eagle pilot heard.

Holly Baker of the Federal Aviation Administration said all planes were
accounted for.