Fighter jets escort Air France plane to US airport

Authorities say US military jets escorted an Air France flight into New York’s Kennedy Airport after a threat was made against the flight.

File photo of an Airbus A320-200 aircraft, similar to the one involved. Picture: Contributed

The FBI confirmed that the F-15 fighter jets were scrambled on Monday morning after an anonymous caller claimed a chemical weapon was on board the aircraft.

ABC News reported the telephoned threat as being made to the Maryland Coordination and Analysis Center, which is responsible for coordinating federal, state and local agencies in intelligence information-gathering.

The aircraft was taken to a special location at the New York airport for a security search, according to Air France officials in Paris.

Authorities said that the plane landed safely and a search turned up no weapons.

Flight AF022, an Airbus A330-200, took off from Charles de Gaulle / Roissy airport at 7.32am France time, and landed at JFK around 3.10pm.

Federal Aviation Administration officials confirmed that the agency was aware of the incident, but did not elaborate.