'All is clear' at Philly airport after bomb threat

Bart Jansen and John Bacon | USA TODAY

The FBI and other law enforcement officials met a flight from Ireland at Philadelphia International Airport on Wednesday after a bomb threat was made, but the threat was quickly dismissed.

"All is clear and the bomb threat appears to be unfounded," said Victoria Lupica, a spokeswoman for Philadelphia International Airport.

Lupica said the passengers were cleared from US Airways Flight 777 from Shannon and bused to a terminal as a precaution. There was no emergency landing -- the plane actually landed just a few minutes before its scheduled arrival time of 2:05 p.m. ET.

"A threat was phoned into the airport regarding the scheduled inbound flight from Ireland," she said. "All bags were screened in Ireland but, out of an abundance of caution, were rescreened after the flight landed at Philadelphia."

Law enforcement officials met the plane on the tarmac as the 171 passengers and nine crewmembers exited the Boeing 757 to waiting buses. FBI spokeswoman Carrie Adamowski told the Associated Press that its agents were assisting Transportation Security Administration officials in the investigation.

This is not the first time Philadelphia's airport has been involved in a bomb threat that resulted in such precautionary measures. In September, pizza cook Kenneth Smith called in a bogus airplane threat to get back at a romantic rival over a compromising photo of Smith's girlfriend posted on Facebook.

Smith called authorities to report that the rival, Christopher Shell, had liquid explosives on a Dallas-bound flight.

Smith was sentenced to 15 months in prison -- and ordered to send written apologies to 38 passengers who were aboard when the flight turned around and armed agents stormed the plane in Philadelphia.