Update: More Information on the US-Bound Emirates Flight with Security Threat

Earlier today, I wrote about the security threat that had been identified on the Emirates flight from Athens to Newark. Now, more information is known about the person that was of interest to US intelligence officials.

New Information About Emirates Security Threat

To read more about the original story, read this post. To sum up, it was the Emirates flights from Athens to Newark (EK209) and the Emirates flight from Athens to Dubai (EK210). The US sent security information through the US Embassy in Athens and relayed to the Greek authorities. At this, the flight bound for the US was ordered to return and was escorted by Greek F-16 fighter jets and finally left after hours of investigations.

According to Greek police and new media reports, the person of interest that had flagged with US intelligence agencies was a Turkish citizen who had been living in Greece for the last number of years. The US sent the information not knowing if he would be flying from Athens to Dubai or to Newark but that he was departing on an Emirates flight.

Earlier reports said that it was a person who was alleged to have been involved in other suspicious activities. This person was not known to the public this morning but police are now saying it is someone who has lived in Greece for a number of years and is a Turkish citizen.

As someone who has spent a lot of time in Greece, I find it both concerning and yet unsurprising that someone who was on some kind of a list in the US had been living in Greece all this time without raising any flags here. Given the large number of individuals who had come to Greece from the Middle East and Central Asia over the last few years, there were many people who had entered and not been flagged until some time later (according to police).

I am sure that Greek police now are investigating this situation more now that they have this information. But, both Emirates flights had departed again and were declared safe. Obviously, the US felt it was not a safe situation to allow this individual to land in the US which was the reason that Greece had the plane return to Athens. Unless this person purchased a ticket at the last minute, I am not sure why the individual was not flagged earlier when the manifests were shared with US authorities. But, even purchasing a ticket at the last minute is enough to get you flagged for extra security screening.

So, this will likely be all we ever know about this situation! But, at least we know now that it was someone living in Greece for years and that they had found whom they were searching for.