FBI: Thai Airways plane searched, no explosives or credible threat found, no arrests

FBI: Aircraft searched, no credible threat found

LOS ANGELES — The FBI says investigators have found no explosives aboard a Los Angeles-bound Thai Airways flight in which a bomb threat was found scrawled on a bathroom mirror.

FBI spokeswoman Laura Eimiller says investigators conducted a thorough search of the plane Tuesday night and found no evidence to suggest a credible threat to the aircraft existed. She says all passengers were immediately removed from the plane, interviewed and released.

She says there were no arrests.

Eimiller says Flight 794 landed safely at Los Angeles International Airport just before 9 p.m. Tuesday evening and was taken to a remote area of the airport where passengers exited the plane and the search was conducted.

She says airport officials were notified at 7:15 p.m. Tuesday of the alleged threat.

THIS IS A BREAKING NEWS UPDATE. Check back soon for further information. AP’s earlier story is below.

LOS ANGELES (AP) — Federal authorities were interviewing passengers and crew aboard a Los Angeles-bound Thai Airways flight from Bangkok after a bomb threat written in poorly worded English was spotted on a bathroom mirror on the plane, authorities said.

Flight 794 landed safely at Los Angeles International Airport just before 9 p.m. Tuesday evening and was taken to a remote area of the airport, where passengers exited the plane, FBI spokeswoman Laura Eimiller said.

Airport officials were notified at 7:15 p.m. Tuesday of the alleged threat, she said.

Thai Airways president Piyasvasti Amranand told The Associated Press that the message — written in English with bad grammar — warned that a bomb was on the plane.

“This must have caused some nuisance to the passengers,” he said by phone from Singapore. “It sounds like it was done by a crazy person.”

Thai Airways said in a statement that there were 171 passengers and 18 crew members on board.

Bomb technicians were searching the plane and luggage on the plane was to be screened, she said.

The Los Angeles Fire Department said there were 18 fire trucks and fire engines on standby when the plane landed.

Associated Press Writers Thanyarat Doksone in Bangkok and Denise Petski in Los Angeles contributed to this report.