An American Airlines flight from Los Angeles to London this morning made an unscheduled stop at New York's John F Kennedy International Airport after a member of the flight crew "alerted security on the ground that there may be a suspicious person on board, and the decision was made to divert the flight", Flight International reports.

The man in question had "raised some eyebrows" aboard flight 136 by boarding the aircraft using an AA employee bus, thereby bypassing LAX security, even though he was on a private trip. A flight attendant who questioned him onboard was not satisfied he was an AA employee, and duly informed the pilot.

US Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff later confirmed the man was an employee who was flying in a private capacity. He told CNN the incident may have been a "misunderstanding", adding: "I think the good news here, of course, is an alert crew sees something that's anomalous or seems questionable and they take action."

Flight 136 was cancelled, and passengers reassigned to other London-bound aircraft. ®

Related stories

• RSA DHS chief goes nuclear on cyber security (9 April 2008)
• 'Suspicious comment' provokes LAX terminal evacuation (18 February 2008)
• Exploding curry menaces 747 (21 May 2007)
• USA to ground all travellers until 'cleared' (6 November 2006)
• Terrorists could attack aircraft with gel-filled bras (8 September 2006)
• Men removed from jet for 'speaking Arabic' (21 August 2006)
• Analysis Mass murder in the skies: was the plot feasible? (17 August 2006)
• BA aborts flight over ringing mobile phone (14 August 2006)
• Boffins look to technology to thwart airline hijacks (14 August 2006)