Threatening note delays US Airways Express flight

(New York - WABC, December 24, 2006) (WABC) -- Some Christmas Eve travelers on a commuter plane from New York to Portland, Maine tonight were getting quite a scare.

As their plane got ready to take off, a suspicious note was found on board. The plane forced to come back to the gate and tonight one of the passengers has been taken into custody.

Eyewitness News reporter Jeff Rossen has the story from LaGuardia airport.

The man taken into custody afternoon at LaGuardia is the passenger who wrote that note. The note scared the pilot so much and he turned the plane around.

Eyewitness News has learned from another passenger on the plane, what was written on the threatening note. The note said "the shed of my blood and everybody's blood would cure all AIDS and cancer." That was enough to have the pilot turning the plane around and bring it back to the gate at LaGuardia.

When the flight crews saw it, they moved the plane back and they took everybody off. This was US Airways Express flight 3068 with service from LaGuardia to Portland, Maine.

The pilot, at the time, was taxiing to the runway so it was fairly easy to turn the plane around and be safe.

Everyone got off the plane and was questioned. Port Authority police took the man, who wrote the note, into custody. He was taken to a nearby hospital in New York City for mental evaluation.

Police brought in dogs to search the plane just to make sure that this man wasn't going to actually follow through with anything he wrote on that note. The good news is that police found nothing suspicious.

The plane took off and landed at Portland a short time ago. But, for the passengers who had to quickly get off the plane after seeing this threatening letter.

Everything is okay, now and the man is in custody tonight.

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