Police Seek 'Unauthorised Person' At LAX Terminal

A security alert over a report of an unauthorised person trying to board a JetBlue Airways plane at Los Angeles Airport on Thursday apparently was triggered by an off-duty pilot who ended up taking another flight instead.

The situation at the airport unfolded when an individual dressed in a pilot's uniform was seen by an airline employee attempting to enter a New York-bound JetBlue flight through the plane's jetway bridge as the aircraft was being prepared for departure.

Informed that none of the flight crew was supposed to have yet arrived, the employee reported a possible "unauthorised person" in the area, but the individual in question by then had vanished, according to airport officials.

No passengers were on the plane at the time.

Police and bomb squad technicians were summoned, and the plane was towed away from its gate at Terminal 3 for a search of the aircraft while police searched the terminal for the mystery person who was seen on the jetway, airport police spokesman Rob Pedregon said. The flight's baggage also was put through additional security screening.

Nothing suspicious was found in the aircraft or terminal, and the plane was later returned to service and rolled back to its gate, Pedregon said.

JetBlue said the incident involved flight 24 bound for John F Kennedy Airport in New York.

Investigators later concluded the individual whose appearance sparked the security alert was believed to be an off-duty pilot still in uniform who originally was on the manifest for flight 24 but decided instead to take a Virgin America flight back to New York, Pedregon said. He said police were working to confirm the circumstances of the apparent misunderstanding.

Airline spokesman Morgan Johnston said about 140 passengers were ultimately cleared to board, and the plane was set to make a belated departure for New York.

The incident unfolded among heightened aviation security concerns in the aftermath of the deadly attacks by gunmen and suicide bombers in Paris last Friday that have been attributed to Islamic State.

An FBI spokeswoman in Los Angeles said federal agents were seeking to interview the off-duty pilot once he arrived in New York.