The threat was credible enough to have the Federal Aviation Administration, the Federal Bureau of Investigation, the Transportation Security Agency, and the Nome Police Department focus on the Nome airport.
Eric Gonzales from the FBI said it all started with a phone call. "There was a dispute at Alaska Airlines between a customer and an Alaska Airlines employee. The customer made comments he shouldn't have made. We did respond, but so far there has been no arrest made," he said.
Apparently the disgruntled customer threatened to shoot the Alaska Airlines employee and also shoot his wife on the flight bound to Nome.
The call, originally believed to originate in Nome, was later traced back to Washington State.
"TSA is still investigating the case. We opened operations in Fairbanks in partnership with the FAA and FBI. We thought the gentleman called from Nome when the plane was airborne already. But then we figured out that the person was in Washington State. Essentially, it was a domestic dispute," said Margaret Rhodes, TSA security director.
Jack Walsh from Alaska Airlines said the flight returned to Anchorage due to the weather, but acknowledged the threat.
The Nome Nugget
We encourage you to add your comments. To prevent spam, comments with links are manually approved during the normal business day. Please be respectful of others with your comments, bear in mind anyone in the community may be reading your comments.
