Bathroom smoke break on flight prompts bomb scare

A Qatari diplomat trying to sneak a smoke in an airplane bathroom sparked a bomb scare aboard a flight from Washington to Denver Wednesday night, with fighter jets scrambled and law enforcement put on high alert, officials said.

No explosives were found on the man, and officials do not believe he was trying to to harm anyone, according to a senior enforcement official who spoke on condition of anonymity.

Marshals on board United Flight 663 restrained the man, which took off from Reagan National Airport. It landed in Denver at 9:21 p.m. New York time, where it was met by FBI and TSA officials, authorities said. A total of 157 passengers and six crew members were aboard.

Transportation Security Administration Kristin Lee said the man was being interviewed by law enforcement in Denver last night.

The man was identified by authorities as Mohammed Al-Madidi, a diplomat in the Qatar Embassy in Washington. The FBI said the man had full diplomatic immunity as the 3rd secretary and vice consul. Officials told AP the diplomat has resided in the United States for years.

Two F-16 jet fighters were scrambled from Buckley Air Force Base in Aurora, Colo., a Denver suburb, and escorted the flight as it flew the final 40 miles to Denver, a spokesman for U.S. Northern Command, John Cornelio, said. The United jet was directed to a remote location at the Denver airport after landing.

Officials earlier last night insisted it was still too early to tell whether the incident was an attempted act of terrorism or a misunderstanding.

A spokesman for the FBI in Denver declined to comment.

Last night's incident follows two instances in which a passenger has attempted to light part of himself on fire on a U.S.-bound aircraft. On Christmas Day, Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab of Nigeria attempted to detonate plastic explosives hidden in his underwear on flight to Detroit from Amsterdam, authorities said. In December 2001, British citizen Richard Reid tried to light a bomb hidden in his shoes on an American Airlines flight from Paris to Miami. That flight landed safely in Boston.

Qatar and the United States have strong ties. The USAF is allowed to operate a base at Al Udeid in Qatar, one of the world's wealthiest nations, rich in oil and natural gas reserves.