Hotel workers: Caller ranted about plane hijacking

ALAMEDA, Calif. (AP) — Workers at a California hotel who reported receiving an anonymous phone threat to a New York-bound flight say the caller ranted in a thick accent as others were heard shouting anti-America curses.

Justin Martin, who works at the Hampton Inn in Alameda, says a clerk who received the call didn’t take the threat seriously until they discovered online that the American Airlines flight was about to take off.

Martin spoke to the clerk just after the call came in Thursday morning.

The caller ranted in broken English that American Airlines Flight 24 was going to be hijacked.

The pair called police, leading authorities to ground the flight. The FBI later determined the threat was not credible.