NY plane halted, "no fly" passenger aboard

11:07, 7 May 2010

NEW YORK. May 7. KAZINFORM U.S. authorities have stopped an Emirates airline flight destined for Dubai on a taxiway at New York's JFK airport with a passenger on the "no fly" list on board, local media said on Thursday; Kazinform refers to China Daily.

The incident came five days after a failed bomb attack on New York's Times Square that has heightened security concerns in America's most populous city. The suspect in that case was detained as he tried to take an Emirates flight to Dubai.

In Thursday's incident Department of Homeland Security vehicles were nearby and the flight tower was notified that the aircraft was returning to the gate, according to Breaking News Network, a news service that monitors police scanners.

A spokeswoman for the Federal Aviation Administration confirmed Emirates Airlines flight 204 was stopped at JFK.

Prosecutors on Tuesday charged Faisal Shahzad, 30, a naturalized U.S. citizen born in Pakistan, with five counts, including attempting to use a weapon of mass destruction and trying to kill and maim people within the United States.

Shahzad had bought a ticket and boarded the plane on Monday evening despite having been put on a U.S. government "no-fly" list earlier in the day; Kazinform cites China Daily. See www.chinadaily.com.cn for full version.

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