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CNN Live At Daybreak

Concerns Over Terrorism Spell More Problems for British Airways

Aired January 02, 2004 - 05:01   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.


THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.


CAROL COSTELLO, CNN ANCHOR: Concerns over terrorism spell more problems for British Airways flights at Washington Dulles Airport. A London to Washington British Airways flight on New Year's Day was canceled over security concerns. Later, U.S. officials delayed a British Airways flight to London for four hours. Passengers had to be rescreened.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The captain said there's a delay, some sort of a security issue. People are going to be taken off three or four at a time and so that's what happened.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

COSTELLO: In an incident earlier this week, an Aero Mexico flight to Los Angeles was canceled after U.S. authorities expressed concern over passenger screening.

CNN's Elaine Quijano has more on that canceled British Airways flight to Washington now.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

ELAINE QUIJANO, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Officials with British Airways say they canceled their flight, number 223, from London to Washington at the request of the British government. Now, U.S. authorities are not commenting, but a spokesperson for British Airways says that security concerns prompted that cancellation.

The move comes on the heels of an incident New Year's Eve, when the same flight was escorted to Washington by fighter jets and the 240 some passengers were kept on board that plane for several hours as it sat on the tarmac at Dulles International Airport. The reason? A U.S. law enforcement official says about a dozen names on the passenger list appeared to match names on a terror watch list. But after conducting interviews, authorities determined the people posed no threat.

The precautions, meantime, stretched to all corners of the country. In Alaska, the increased threat level prompted the U.S. Coast Guard to temporarily halt the transfer of oil onto tankers from the port of Valdez. Now, authorities say they'll continue to assess that security situation of the ports as appropriate.

Elaine Quijano, CNN, Reagan National Airport. (END VIDEOTAPE)

COSTELLO: So, will British Airways operate that pesky Flight 223 today? Airline officials have been discussing their plans this morning.

CNN's Robin Oakley is standing by live in London with more -- good morning, Robin.

ROBIN OAKLEY, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Carol.

And we're still waiting to hear whether British Airways will operate Flight 223 today out of Heathrow into Washington. Obviously, there is concern among potential passengers after the incidents that you've described of the one 223 flight being escorted in by fighters and held on the tarmac at Washington, and, secondly, the New Year's Day flight yesterday being canceled.

And what we're hearing is that this was, this cancellation at the request of the British government followed specific information from U.S. transportation officials, specific information about a flight number, that it was not just a question of the names of passengers, which has led to the cancellation of some other flights earlier. And the fact that other British Airways flights have operated normally into Washington over the last couple of days, and into other U.S. cities, suggests that there is a specific concern about this one flight, maybe that some kind of communication between suspected terrorists, with a reference to the flight number, has been intercepted -- Carol.

COSTELLO: Robin, we heard all kinds of things flying around this, I don't know, this threat, that maybe a terrorist was training as a pilot or terrorists would be on board the plane.

Do we know any more specifically about the threat?

OAKLEY: No, the British authorities over this whole question of canceled flights and airline security, at the moment, we're getting very little information. All we hear is that there was a security concern about this flight. And nobody really knows whether this is the authorities just taking every precaution at the moment or whether there really is some strong specific information come into the intelligence community.

But, of course, fears have been heightened, with the U.S. on orange alert. London authorities have been on high alert for possible al Qaeda outrage since before President Bush's visit here last month. And, of course, we've had the insistence by the U.S. on various flights from Britain and continental countries in Europe, carrying armed sky marshals when they fly into the United States -- Carol.

COSTELLO: Robin Oakley reporting live from London this morning.

TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com




Airways>


Aired January 2, 2004 - 05:01   ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
CAROL COSTELLO, CNN ANCHOR: Concerns over terrorism spell more problems for British Airways flights at Washington Dulles Airport. A London to Washington British Airways flight on New Year's Day was canceled over security concerns. Later, U.S. officials delayed a British Airways flight to London for four hours. Passengers had to be rescreened.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The captain said there's a delay, some sort of a security issue. People are going to be taken off three or four at a time and so that's what happened.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

COSTELLO: In an incident earlier this week, an Aero Mexico flight to Los Angeles was canceled after U.S. authorities expressed concern over passenger screening.

CNN's Elaine Quijano has more on that canceled British Airways flight to Washington now.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

ELAINE QUIJANO, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Officials with British Airways say they canceled their flight, number 223, from London to Washington at the request of the British government. Now, U.S. authorities are not commenting, but a spokesperson for British Airways says that security concerns prompted that cancellation.

The move comes on the heels of an incident New Year's Eve, when the same flight was escorted to Washington by fighter jets and the 240 some passengers were kept on board that plane for several hours as it sat on the tarmac at Dulles International Airport. The reason? A U.S. law enforcement official says about a dozen names on the passenger list appeared to match names on a terror watch list. But after conducting interviews, authorities determined the people posed no threat.

The precautions, meantime, stretched to all corners of the country. In Alaska, the increased threat level prompted the U.S. Coast Guard to temporarily halt the transfer of oil onto tankers from the port of Valdez. Now, authorities say they'll continue to assess that security situation of the ports as appropriate.

Elaine Quijano, CNN, Reagan National Airport. (END VIDEOTAPE)

COSTELLO: So, will British Airways operate that pesky Flight 223 today? Airline officials have been discussing their plans this morning.

CNN's Robin Oakley is standing by live in London with more -- good morning, Robin.

ROBIN OAKLEY, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Carol.

And we're still waiting to hear whether British Airways will operate Flight 223 today out of Heathrow into Washington. Obviously, there is concern among potential passengers after the incidents that you've described of the one 223 flight being escorted in by fighters and held on the tarmac at Washington, and, secondly, the New Year's Day flight yesterday being canceled.

And what we're hearing is that this was, this cancellation at the request of the British government followed specific information from U.S. transportation officials, specific information about a flight number, that it was not just a question of the names of passengers, which has led to the cancellation of some other flights earlier. And the fact that other British Airways flights have operated normally into Washington over the last couple of days, and into other U.S. cities, suggests that there is a specific concern about this one flight, maybe that some kind of communication between suspected terrorists, with a reference to the flight number, has been intercepted -- Carol.

COSTELLO: Robin, we heard all kinds of things flying around this, I don't know, this threat, that maybe a terrorist was training as a pilot or terrorists would be on board the plane.

Do we know any more specifically about the threat?

OAKLEY: No, the British authorities over this whole question of canceled flights and airline security, at the moment, we're getting very little information. All we hear is that there was a security concern about this flight. And nobody really knows whether this is the authorities just taking every precaution at the moment or whether there really is some strong specific information come into the intelligence community.

But, of course, fears have been heightened, with the U.S. on orange alert. London authorities have been on high alert for possible al Qaeda outrage since before President Bush's visit here last month. And, of course, we've had the insistence by the U.S. on various flights from Britain and continental countries in Europe, carrying armed sky marshals when they fly into the United States -- Carol.

COSTELLO: Robin Oakley reporting live from London this morning.

TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com




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