UK police: 3 arrested after Heathrow bomb threat

[February 04, 2010]  LONDON (AP) -- Three British men were arrested on suspicion of making a bomb threat aboard an Emirates airline plane about to take off for Dubai, police said Saturday.

The men, whose ages range from 36 to 58, were pulled off the flight by police late Friday. One passenger said police led at least one man away in handcuffs before bringing sniffer dogs aboard.

"Police just swarmed the guy and rushed him out," Cameron McLean told Sky News television. "I think he was a white male. There was another one but I didn't see him."

Police said a search of the plane found nothing suspicious aboard and it has since been released to Emirates.

The flight, which had 331 passengers on board, has been rescheduled for 3 p.m. (1500 GMT, 10 a.m. EST) Saturday.

The arrests came amid heightened concern over airline security following an alleged Christmas Day attempt to blow up a Detroit-bound Northwest Airlines plane. Security scares have multiplied and included another incident Friday in which fighter jets were launched to catch up with an AirTran Airways to San Francisco after a report that an intoxicated passenger had locked himself in a bathroom.

[Associated Press]

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