Three anonymous bomb threats forced the rerouting of two airliners and delayed more than 700 passengers on commercial flights in the United States, Britain and Italy. No explosives were found on any planes.

The threats Monday came one day after the apparent bomb explosion on an AirIndia flight near the coast of Ireland that killed all 329 people aboard. Two baggage handlers also were killed Sunday when a bomb exploded in a container from Canadian airliners at a baggage area in Tokyo’s international airport.

In Chicago, a jumbo jet with 441 people aboard was forced to make an unscheduled landing at O’Hare International Airport after an anonymous caller said a bomb was on the cross continental flight.

The flight crew and passengers aboard the People Express Flight 002 were evacuated safely from the Boeing 747.

Chicago police bomb experts searched the jet and X-rayed luggage, but found no bomb.

The flight, en route from Los Angeles to Newark, N.J., landed in Chicago at 3:35 p.m. EDT, 15 minutes after an anonymous caller telephoned the Los Angeles airport with the bomb threat, an airline Spoke man said.

“We’ve had bomb scares before, but this is the first time we’ve had to divert a 747 while it’s in flight,” said Ed Stukane.

The flight left Los Angles at 11:15 a.m. EDT and was scheduled to arrive in Newark at 5 p.m. EDT. The passengers returned to the plane about 6 p.m. EDT and arrived in Newark three hours later.

A Federal Aviation Administration spokesman in Washington said he was not aware of any other bomb threats Monday on domestic flights.

“We really hate to see them publicized,” Said John Leyden, “because any nut can make a bomb threat.”

In London, officers searched an AirIndia jumbo jet at Heathrow Airport after a bomb threat was received.

The flight was about to leave for New York when a caller made an anonymous threat to the airport, officials said.

All 245 passengers were evacuated from the Boeing 747 and the aircraft was towed to a remote area and thoroughly searched, but no explosives were found. The search took more than seven hours.

Article extracted from this publication >>  June 28, 1985