Madrid-Bound Flight Evacuated at JFK Airport, Police Say

A Madrid-bound Delta Air Lines Inc. (DAL) flight was evacuated at New York’s John F. Kennedy International Airport after wires were found in the bathroom, police said.

Delta Flight 126, with more than 200 passengers, returned to the airport after wires were found protruding from straws found on the toilet and sink, said Paul Browne, a spokesman for the New York City Police Department, in an e-mail.

The NYPD bomb squad responded and searched the plane, Browne said. The search, which included the use of dogs, didn’t detect an explosive device, Browne said. No arrests have been made, he said.

A woman who complained of difficulty breathing when the wires were discovered was questioned and “ruled out as having made the complaint as a diversion,” Browne said. A man thought to have last used the bathroom before the wires were found denied knowledge of them, Browne said.

Ron Marsico, a spokesman for the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey, which operates the airport, declined to comment on the incident. A representative of Atlanta-based Delta didn’t immediately return a phone message seeking comment after regular business hours.

To contact the reporter on this story: Chris Dolmetsch in New York at cdolmetsch@bloomberg.net

To contact the editor responsible for this story: Michael Hytha at mhytha@bloomberg.net