AA Flight Requests Diversion While Over the Caspian Sea

An American Airlines flight carrying 199 passengers and 15 crew members made an unexpected landing in Rome on Sunday due to a bomb threat. The airline said Flight AA292, which had departed New York's JFK Airport for New Delhi, touched down in the Italian capital around 5:30pm local time "due to a possible security issue" that was later deemed "non-credible," per NBC News. The threat had been sent via email, per NBC and ABC News. This comes after a record-setting year for bomb threats against India's airports and airlines. A rep for Rome-Fiumicino Airport said the crew requested a flight diversion when the plane was "over the Caspian Sea, a three hours' flight from Rome," indicating the security concern was "serious" but "not urgent," per NBC.

Passengers were only told an unspecified security concern required a diversion "so everyone was calm," one traveler tells NBC. Two Italian Air Force fighter jets accompanied the plane once it arrived in Italian airspace, the airport rep said. It was met by law enforcement in Rome. Rome's airport said there were no disruptions as a result. American Airlines said the plane was inspected and cleared and would fly on to New Delhi "as soon as possible tomorrow" once the crew had rested. "Safety and security are our top priorities and we apologize to our customers for the inconvenience," it added. (More bomb threat stories.)