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"The flight crew
diverted the flight to Kansas City out of an abundance of
caution based upon suspicious behavior displayed by several
passengers," FBI spokesperson Bridget Patton in Kansas City said
in a statement.
All passengers were taken off the plane and those in question
were interviewed by law enforcement, Patton said. They were
later re-booked to continue on a different flight, she said.
Asked what constituted suspicious behavior, Patton replied in an
email that the passengers were "unruly."
Southwest said in a statement that the crew decided to divert
the flight "in response to several passengers who did not follow
crew instruction upon takeoff and continued to exhibit
suspicious behavior in flight."
Security officials worldwide have been on high alert since
Islamic State militants claimed responsibility for attacks last
week in Paris that killed 129 people.
Russia has said the group was also responsible for the downing
on Oct. 31 of a plane returning to St. Petersburg from the Sharm
al-Sheikh resort in Egypt, killing all 224 on board.
After passengers left the plane, authorities swept the aircraft
with a K-9 dog unit, Patton said. The plane, which landed in
Kansas City at 7:50 a.m. CT (1350 GMT), was re-boarded and it
departed at 9:20 a.m. CT for Los Angeles, she said.
It was not immediately clear how many passengers were on board
the flight.
(Reporting by Kevin Murphy in Kansas City; Editing by Daniel
Wallis and Alan Crosby)
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