ROME (AP) – American Airlines flights from New York to India’s New Delhi landed safely in Rome on Sunday afternoon after being decouped due to security concerns.
American Airlines said flight 292, which was “tested by law enforcement,” was “exempt from re-borey,” after landing at Leonardo da Vinci International Airport.
It did not clarify the cause of the security concerns, but added that protocols requested inspections before the flight landed in New Delhi.
AA292 flight AA292 on the way from New York to New Delhi is sitting at Tamarack at Rome’s Leonardo Da Vinci International Airport, looking back over the Caspian Sea on Sunday, February 23, 2025. (AP Photo/Kirsty Wigglesworth)
“The flight will remain in Rome overnight to allow for the necessary crew rest before heading to Delhi as soon as possible tomorrow,” the airline said.
An Associated Press reporter filmed two fighter jets flying through the airport shortly before an unplanned landing. After the plane landed, a fire truck was visible in the landing zone on one side of the plane.
One of the passengers, Neeraj Chopra, said the captain announced that the plane had to spin around about three hours before it was supposed to land in New Delhi due to a change in its “security status.”
Chopra, who was traveling from Detroit, Michigan to visit his family, described the plane’s mood as calm after the initial announcement, but the captain later said the fighter plane escorts the plane to Rome When he announced that, he said he was beginning to feel stressed.
“I felt a bit panicked, now what’s going on here?” Chopra told the Associated Press. “There needs to be something bigger going on here.”
Jonathan Bacon, a 22-year-old passenger from Dayton, Ohio, began paying attention to the flight tracker on his previous seatback after the captain announced the announcement of a “repurpose due to security issues” and began paying attention to the plane from New Delhi. I observed a sudden turn. Returning towards Rome.
Bacon said passengers were not connected to the internet for most of the flight, but concluded them with an early report of the situation about two hours before landing.
After landing, Bacon said all passengers were loaded onto the bus and taken to the terminal. There, each passenger and their personal items were subjected to additional security screenings that they felt were “slightly elevated” especially due to their arrival. More than two hours after landing, Bacon and his friends said they were still waiting for their checked baggage.
“It was definitely the longest flight I’ve ever taken to Europe,” Bacon said.
An airport spokesman said it continues to operate normally.
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