British Airways Cancels London-Washington Flight
Michael Bowman
Another international flight (国际航班) to the United States has been cancelled amid（在……中） continued security worries.
British Airways scrubbed one of three daily flights from London to the Washington area Thursday, the latest in a series of （一系列）cancellations of international flights bound for （前往……）the United States.
British Airways spokesman John Lamphill, "The British government directed British Airways to (命令……做)cancel flight 223. We can only assume that is due to （出于……原因）security reasons, but we have no other explanation."
Wednesday, another British Airways flight was detained several hours upon arrival at Washington's Dulles Airport while U.S. authorities questioned a number of （许多）passengers and conducted extra baggage screening. All passengers were eventually allowed to disembark（离开飞机）.
FBI spokeswoman Debbie Wierman said authorities acted on "routine interest" rather than a specific threat or allegation.
"There were names listed on the manifest（旅客名单）of the plane that matched up to (对得上，和……相对应) persons that U.S. law enforcement officials （执法人员）were interested in interviewing. It was routine interest on our part （对……来说）, and, when it was all said and done, we had no concerns or worries."
But not everyone sees the stepped-up security effort （强化的安全措施）as benign. One passenger from the delayed British Airways flight vented his displeasure（发泄了他的不满情绪）. "This was detention without due process, as far as I am concerned. I am an American citizen and I expect to be treated as such in my own country."
Last week, Air France canceled a half-dozen flights between Paris and Los Angeles. Wednesday, an AeroMexico flight bound for the United States was also scrubbed after U.S. officials raised security concerns （安全考虑）with their Mexican counterparts.
The Associated Press（美联社） quotes a spokesman for Mexico's government as （引用……的话）complaining that U.S. officials did not share specific information about what provoked their concerns.
Two weeks ago, the U.S. Department of Homeland Security raised the nation's alert status to "orange" - the second highest level on a five color-coded scale. Earlier this week Homeland Security Director Tom Ridge announced new airline security measures, including an initiative to have sky marshals aboard certain flights operated by foreign carriers.