Irish Teen-Ager Charged in Airline Threat

Irish police arrested a teen-ager who allegedly made a vague threat against Delta Air Lines, forcing the air carrier to increase security on transatlantic flights, authorities said Sunday.

Colin Leonard Goodwin, 17, of Dunshaughlin, County Meath, was released from police custody in Dublin after posting $1,500 bail, Irish investigators said. He was charged under the Criminal Law Act at the Bridewell Courthouse.

Delta spokesman Bill Berry said that Irish police were satisfied that the threat was nothing but a hoax.

Delta informed the public last week that a threat had been received at the airline’s Dublin office against its 66 weekly flights to Europe.

Berry said Delta will begin “a gradual phase-down” of the extra security measures taken in response to the threat.

“With all the activity last year on European flights, we already have a rather heightened state of security,” he said. “We will return to our normal state of alert for our European operations.”