Plane Gets Escorted Back To Amsterdam Airport

Dutch F-16s escort plane back to airport

Dutch F-16s escorted a Northwest Airlines flight bound for India back to Amsterdam's Schiphol Airport on Wednesday, and authorities detained several passengers for questioning, an airport spokeswoman said

The pilot of the aircraft radioed Schiphol for permission to return and a military escort as it was flying over Germany shortly after leaving Amsterdam, said spokeswoman Pamela Kuypers.

Rick Hirs, a spokesman for the customs police at Schiphol, said it was not clear why the plane had returned. "We don't know yet. We are interviewing passengers and crew members," he said.

Hirs said nobody on the plane had been arrested, and there were no injuries.

The Dutch National Terrorism Coordinator's Office had been informed of the incident but said there was no cause to raise the national threat level, said spokeswoman Judith Sluiter.

"It is the same as it was before -- light threat," said Sluiter.