San Diego

A Delta Air Lines flight that took off at 12:30 p.m. Thursday for Atlanta returned to San Diego after a bomb threat was called in shortly after takeoff, said Rick Beckett, district marketing manager for the airline.

Passengers of Flight 250, nonstop to Atlanta, were forced to deplane so a search of luggage and passengers could be made.

“It’s standard procedure to check everything,” Beckett said. “We don’t take any chances.” The flight was rescheduled to depart at 2:45 p.m.

Beckett declined to comment further on the incident. “I hate to give (the callers) the notoriety they’re looking for,” he said.

Since the bombing of Pan Am Flight 103 over Lockerbie, Scotland, on Dec. 21, there have been three bomb threats at Lindbergh Field, airport manager Bud McDonnell said. One threat was on an American Airlines flight Dec. 30 and another occurred Wednesday on a Southwest Airlines jet. Thursday’s threat made the third, McDonnell said.

“It’s Flight 103 that has triggered (the bomb threats),” McDonnell said. “They come in bunches. It’s like a snowball or domino effect.”