2 Air France Flights from U.S. to Paris Diverted Because of Bomb Threats

Two Air France flights headed from the United States to Paris were diverted because of bomb threats, officials said.

Both flights landed safely Tuesday night, and were searched and given the all-clear by Canadian and U.S. authorities.

Flight 65, en route from Los Angeles to Paris, was diverted to Salt Lake City after a bomb threat was called in from the ground, a U.S. government official said.

The official did not know whether anyone was arrested and was not aware of any unruly passengers on board.

Shortly afterward, Air France Flight 55 from Washington’s Dulles International Airport to Charles de Gaulle Airport in Paris was diverted to an airport in Halifax, Nova Scotia–also because of a called-in bomb threat, a government source said.

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Even though the flights landed safely, CNN law enforcement analyst Jonathan Gilliam said there are reasons for serious concern.

“One thing that has to be clear is that we may call this a hoax, but the reality is, terrorism–which we see going on in France right now, and here–is a tactic used to affect a psychological or political change on a community. And that is what this is,” Gilliam said.

“It may be a hoax, as far as a bomb threat. But this is terrorism.”

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