Frenchwoman held on jet bomb hoax

A FRENCH passenger on a flight from Paris has been arrested by US security officers after claiming she had a bomb "surgically implanted" in her body.

Two F-15 fighters were scrambled to escort the US Airways Boeing 767 with 179 passengers and nine crew as it was ordered to divert to Bangor, Maine, after the woman, said to be in her 20s or 30s, passed a note to cabin crew about the bomb.

Her claims were taken seriously as the US Transportation Security Administration had recently issued an instruction to airlines, aviation authorities and security services about the possibility of surgically-implanted bombs.

However, the FBI and Homeland Security said later she had posed no risk.

The woman, who had been travelling alone and without cabin baggage, had boarded Flight 787 to Charlotte, North Carolina, at Paris Charles-de-Gaulle for a 10-day visit to the US.

Fellow passengers told TV crews they knew nothing of the bomb danger - and when they saw her holding her stomach thought she had been taken ill.

The pilot told passengers they were diverting to Maine and asked if there was a doctor on board. When she was examined there was no trace of any recent surgery.

Even when FBI officers arrived on board at Bangor to arrest her the passengers thought she was being held as a drugs courier.