Pilot wrongly called by diversion, aircraft forced back to JFK terminal

A JetBlue pilot accidentally reported that his plane had been diverted to JFK, triggering a massive response from cops and firefighters who circled the craft on the tarmac, officials said.

The pilot of Flight 1623, headed for Los Angeles, reported to the tower that the aircraft radio equipment was not working – and then inadvertently inserted into the code a hijacking of the plane , police sources said.

So, without verbal contact with Flight 1623 and the code manually entered for a hijacking, the JFK authorities had no choice but to assume the worst.

The Port Authority Police, its Emergency Services Unit, K-9 units, firefighters and ambulances rushed to the scene.

"This brought everyone and their mother on the tarmac," said a police source. "Most people (cops and firefighters on the scene) have never reacted to a hijacking, except at the training."

The incident had a training effect on delays in landings and departures, with first responders rushing to the track.

"The plane was inspected and cleaned without any threat to safety," said Port Authority spokesman Lenis Rodrigues.

Flight 1623, with 158 people on board, was due to leave at 19:30. and land at 22:52. at LAX.

The flight was scheduled to take off later on Tuesday night.

JetBlue spokeswoman Paula Acevedo refused to answer questions about the communication snafu, but called it "false alarm".

"Shortly before departure, the 1623 New York JFK flight to Los Angeles was faced with a radio problem affecting the crew's communication capability and a false alert was sent to the JFK tower", was she said in a statement.

"While the communication was re-established via alternative channels, the authorities responded with great caution.The plane was cleared and returned to the door for inspection."

Passenger Tony Schwartz tweeted: "I am on a JetBlue flight at JFK, which lost its communications, created a security crisis, 10 heavily armed policemen boarded the plane and left. half of the runway, be brought to the door.

Additional report by David K. Li