Sat, Jan 03, 2004 page1

• Terror concerns ground some flights to US

  FEAR IN THE SKIES A flight from Britain was canceled twice and some Air France flights have been tailed by fighter jets, but oil shipments resumed at a key port

  • AP
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  British Airways canceled its afternoon flight from London to Washington for the second day yesterday following security advice from the British government, an airline spokeswoman said.

  The same flight, BA223, was canceled Thursday with the same explanation.

  On Wednesday, BA223 was kept on the taxiway at Washington Dulles International Airport for several hours shortly after landing, while US authorities questioned passengers and crew.

  

  The tail fin of a British Airways jet seen through the security fencing and razor wire at London's Heathrow Airport on Monday. BA flights to Washington have been canceled because of fears of terrorism.

  PHOTO: AP

  Yesterday's cancelation came a week-and-a-half after the Bush administration raised the national terrorism alert to orange, its second-highest level. Security restrictions on US airspace were tightened over the New Year holiday.

  Yesterday's British Airways service was due to leave at 3:05pm, and was canceled less than two hours before take-off. Some passengers had already begun to check in.

  The airline declined to comment on the nature of the security advice yesterday.

  "It was following advice from the UK government regarding security, we can't comment further than that," a spokeswoman for British Airways said on condition of anonymity.

  Paul Beaver, a British defense analyst, said he had been told that Washington was ``the definite target.''

  ``We have got intelligence, I am told, that there was a plan to take the aircraft and destroy it over Washington or fly it into something,'' Beaver said

  British Airways said the 300 passengers booked for the flight would be offered refunds, or seats on other flights.

  An earlier service, flight BA217, left Heathrow for Washington at 1pm. It had been delayed for two hours after US security authorities requested further information from the airline, the spokeswoman added, without elaborating.

  BA's later service from Heathrow to Washington, was scheduled to leave on time at 6:40pm, the airline added.

  A return flight to London, BA222, which was scheduled to leave Washington at 9:40pm local time, would also be canceled, the airline said.

  Mexico had also canceled flights to the US while US warplanes have been tailing in-bound Air France flights for fear attackers might try to crash them into American targets, US officials said on Thursday.

  Security fears amid a heightened terror alert also prompted a two-day suspension of oil shipments from Alaska's major port of Valdez, Coast Guard and Department of Homeland Security officials said. The halt of transfers of oil onto tankers began on Tuesday and was lifted on Thursday.

  An Aeromexico flight to Los Angeles from Mexico City was canceled on New Year's Eve and Jan. 1 because of suspicions would-be hijackers might have booked tickets, Mexican and US officials said.

  The oil suspension in Alaska was part of "a continuing effort to ensure the security of our homeland," consistent with Code Orange, the heightened alert level in effect since Dec. 21, said Russ Knocke, a Department of Homeland Security spokesman.

  It was not clear what specifically triggered the decision to suspend the traffic.

  Valdez is the terminal for the trans-Alaskan pipeline from Prudhoe Bay. The 1,280km pipeline normally carries about 1 million barrels a day to Valdez, or about 17 percent of US domestic production.

  A Bush administration official said US intelligence remained particularly concerned about "credible" threats to Los Angeles-bound flights from Paris and Mexico City.

  In boosting the alert level last month, Homeland Security Secretary Tom Ridge said Osama bin Laden's al-Qaeda movement appeared intent on matching or outdoing the Sept. 11, 2001, hijacked airliner attacks that killed about 3,000 people.

  An administration official confirmed several Air France flights had been escorted by US fighter jets to make sure they stayed on course.

  "When this happens in the middle of the day and there are two F-16s outside of an aircraft, you obviously don't keep it a secret," the official said.

  Six flights between Paris and Los Angeles were canceled on Dec. 24 and Dec. 25 at the urging of Washington after US officials spotted what they believed were suspicious names on lists of those due to board the planes.
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