Sept. 11 Flight to N.Y. Draws Police Suspicion

Police are investigating circumstances surrounding a Sept. 11 flight from Toronto to New York after box-cutter knives were found aboard the airliner, which never left the ground that day, an airline spokeswoman said.

Box-cutters and knives were the weapons used by hijackers who took control of four U.S. airliners Sept. 11 and smashed them into landmarks in New York and Arlington, Va., and a Pennsylvania field, killing more than 5,600 people.

Air Canada spokeswoman Laura Cooke said the knives were found Sept. 14 by a passenger on an Air Canada flight heading for Calgary.

The plane had been scheduled to fly to New York on Sept. 11, leaving Toronto’s Pearson International Airport at 9 a.m. It didn’t take off because the United States closed its airspace to civilian traffic after the attacks in New York and at the Pentagon.

“The matter is being looked at by the authorities,” Cooke said. She declined to give details about the passengers.