LOUISVILLE, Ky. (WDRB) -- Several students from Kentucky were on board the U.S. Airways flight that had to be diverted because of a suspected terrorist threat.
Those students -- who were returning from a 2-week mission trip to Africa -- arrived at Louisville International last night after a long day of travel.
The plane was en route from Paris, France to Charlotte, North Carolina Tuesday when passengers noticed a woman pacing the aisles.
Megan Parsons was one of the students who was aboard the plane.
"This woman kept on going back and forth," Parsons said. "And I was in the very back of the plane so I could turn around and pay attention to what was going on. They had her sit on the table and when I turned around and looked she was holding her head, and the doctors were trying to look at her head ... I just thought she was sick."
That woman turned out to be a French passenger who passed a note to a flight attendant indicating she was carrying a bomb that had been surgically implanted in her body.
In 2011, the FBI and Homeland Security officials warned that terrorists could soon begin trying to surgically implant bombs and other devices in people's bodies.
Two F-15 Fighter jets scrambled to escort the diverted flight to Maine because of the woman's claims.
The students say they were kept in the dark about what was happening.
They say the pilot came over the loudspeaker to announce they'd be stopping in Maine to "re-fuel" and they never saw the fighter jets escorting the plane.
It wasn't until they landed in Maine when they saw the woman escorted off in handcuffs when they realized what was happening.
Tyler Tucker seemed to agree with the decision to keep the details quiet until after the plane landed.
"I think that if he had made us aware while we were in the air that there was the possibility of a bomb threat on board, it would have been a whole lot less organized and a lot of people probably could have got hurt," Tyler said.
Campbellsville University is about 80 miles south of Louisville. Several Students from the university were among the 179 passengers and nine crew members on board.
Two doctors aboard the plane examined woman and found no scars or incisions.
After she was escorted off the flight in handcuffs, other passengers were interviewed by the FBI.
"At this time, there is no evidence that the plane or its passengers were ever in any actual danger," said Greg Comcowich, an FBI spokesman in Boston.
He said the agency wouldn't confirm the status nor release the identity of the passenger who caused the flight to be diverted.
The flight to Charlotte resumed after a three and a half hour delay.
One student told us this was his first trip flying. He says he hopes things go a little smoother next time.
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