Slow Air Travel Day, Otherwise All Quiet

The number of domestic airline flights was down markedly Wednesday as heightened concerns about security on the Sept. 11 anniversary prompted two emergency landings--both of which appeared to have been caused by misunderstandings.

The nation’s terrorism alert system remained at “code orange,” indicating a high risk of a terrorist strike, but despite a number of scares around the nation “there have been no incidents that, at first blush, appear to be involved with terrorism,” said Gordon Johndroe, a spokesman for the White House Office of Homeland Security.

Overseas, the anniversary of the Sept. 11 attacks saw 13 U.S. embassies and consulates closed, mostly in Asia. Several diplomatic posts in Europe received mail that contained a white powder, which was being analyzed.

Also Wednesday, authorities arrested five men in Pakistan on suspicion of planning terrorist attacks on U.S. fast-food restaurants in Karachi. All five men were members of Harkat-ul-Moujahedeen al-Almi, an Islamic militant group, and had received weapons training in Afghanistan, authorities said.

In the U.S., initial reports of a possible attempted hijacking of an American Airlines flight over Texas prompted the military to scramble an F-16 fighter. The airliner, which had two federal air marshals aboard, made an emergency landing in Houston, where it was surrounded by law enforcement agents. It turned out that a passenger who was suspected of carrying a knife had a folding pocket comb, the airline said.

Earlier, a Northwest Airlines flight from Memphis, Tenn., to Las Vegas was diverted to Fort Smith, Ark., after some passengers aroused suspicion. Details remained sketchy late Wednesday, but government officials in Washington said they received reports that several male passengers had locked themselves in a lavatory and were believed to be shaving. If the men were shaving with razors, it raises concerns about how they brought the razors past security checkpoints.

No one was injured in either incident, and the passengers who came under suspicion did not attempt to interfere with flight crews, officials said. No terrorism-related charges were being considered, an FBI official said.

While the security scares were resolved without incident, the Sept. 11 anniversary had an unmistakable dampening effect on air travel, according to the Federal Aviation Administration.

At 8 a.m. EDT there were 3,090 flights aloft under FAA control, compared with 3,706 at the same time the previous Wednesday, FAA spokesman Bill Shumann said. The reduction was more dramatic toward midmorning. At 11 a.m., there were 4,053 flights in the air, compared with 5,791 the previous Wednesday, a 30% reduction. The gap narrowed somewhat as the afternoon continued.

Overall, the 26,700 U.S. flights scheduled Wednesday were down about 19% from the nearly 33,000 scheduled on the day of the attacks, according to Back Aviation Solutions, a consulting firm.

Homeland security spokesman Johndroe said the orange alert issued Tuesday would remain in effect indefinitely. Based on a mosaic of intelligence information, an orange warning represents the second-highest level of alert. Before Tuesday, the level had been set at yellow, indicating an “elevated” risk of attack. Since its implementation in March, officials have yet to elevate the alert status to the highest level, red, which signals a “severe” risk of terrorist attacks.

“No one should expect the threat level to go from orange to yellow” today, Johndroe said. Because of the higher threat level, law enforcement has been taking countermeasures that would not have been employed last week. “Raising the level has had a deterrent effect,” Johndroe said.

Off the New Jersey coast, the Coast Guard ordered a Liberian freighter out to sea early Wednesday for investigation into why radiological sensors went off during an inspection.

The Palermo Senator was ordered six miles out to sea for further testing. Results of those tests were not immediately available.

Times staff writers Vicki Kemper, Josh Meyer and James F. Peltz contributed to this report.