"L.A.-Washington route labeled 'flight of interest'"

Wednesday, May 5, 2004

L.A.-Washington route labeled 'flight of interest' 
The Associated Press

 
WASHINGTON - A daily United Airlines flight from Los Angeles to
Washington is undergoing extra security checks because of an unspecified
threat. 

United spokesman Jeff Green confirmed that the Transportation Security
Administration is conducting additional checks of the crew and
passengers on Flight 200 to Washington Dulles International Airport. 

Green said the TSA did not explain why additional scrutiny was needed,
but "according to the TSA, there have been no specific, credible threats
made against any United flights." 

He did not say when the extra checks began. But a security alert from
the Airline Pilots' Security Alliance, dated April 30, said the TSA had
designated Flight 200 as a "flight of interest." The memo complained
that the TSA was subjecting the flight crew and passengers to extra
scrutiny without saying why. 

TSA spokesman Mark Hatfield would not comment about Flight 200. But he
said the agency sometimes designates a certain route as a "flight of
interest" if the agency has "reason to believe - through intelligence
streams - it has been linked to a specific or nonspecific threat."


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