US Plane Makes Emergency Landing in China

A US Northwest Airlines passenger plane made an emergency landing in northern China's Tianjin International Airport Thursday after a slip containing words of threat was found on board.

Flight NWA 087 to Beijing from Detroit made the unscheduled stop at Tianjin airport, about 100 miles from Beijing, around 7:00 pm local time (1000 GMT).

Northwest Airlines' Tokyo office reported the threatening letter to the Chinese side two hours earlier, around 5:00 local time (0800 GMT).

The plane made an emergency landing at Tianjin International Airport at 18:58 for the safety of passengers and the plane.

Chinese police checked the plane according to law, and has found nothing unusual. Investigation is still underway.

The sources said arrangements will be made for all the passengers to travel to Beijing immediately after the investigation.

( China Daily January 25, 2002)