Fighter jets were launched Sunday to accompany an American Airlines flight from Los Angeles to New York after three passengers refused to emerge from a bathroom, triggering brief concerns about a potential attack, NBC New York reported. According to a security official, the passengers on Flight 34 went into a bathroom and were "not compliant," but then returned to their seats. Two or three passengers were drunk, sources told NBC News. The plane landed early at 4:15 p.m. at JFK Airport, where investigators were waiting. In a similar incident, two F-16s shadowed a Frontier Airlines flight from Denver to Detroit after the crew reported two people were spending "an extraordinarily long time" in a restroom. Police detained three passengers on arrival. And terminals were briefly shut down in Dallas and Kansas City Sunday as well.
