Diverted American Airlines flight escorted by Italian fighter jets after 'bomb threat'

An American Airlines flight travelling from New York to New Delhi was diverted midair due to a "bomb threat".

Flight 292 landed at Rome's Leonardo da Vinci Rome Fiumicino Airport "due to a possible security issue," the airline said in a statement on Sunday, adding later the threat "was determined to be non-credible".

The airline did not clarify what the security issue was, but a source familiar with the situation told Sky News' US partner network NBC News it was a bomb threat sent via email.

The Federal Aviation Administration said the crew reported the security issue.

"Safety and security are our top priorities, and we apologise to our customers for the inconvenience," the airline said in a statement.

The flight requested a diversion to Rome's Leonardo da Vinci Rome Fiumicino Airport at around 2pm local time, Roberto Rao, a spokesperson for the airport.

"We immediately agreed and organised a safe landing," Mr Rao told NBC News.

"We don't know what the security concern was, but my opinion is that it was serious enough to divert the plane, but not urgent, because we received the alert when the plane was over the Caspian Sea, a three hours' flight from Rome."

Once in Italian airspace, the plane was escorted by two Italian air force fighter jets and landed in Rome at around 5.30pm local time.

'What's going on here?'

Neeraj Chopra, one of the 199 passengers on board, said the captain announced the plane had to turn around about three hours before it was supposed to land in New Delhi because of a change in "security status".

Mr Chopra, who was traveling to India to visit family, described the mood on board as calm until the captain later announced that fighter jets would be escorting their plane to Rome.

"I felt a little panic of, okay, what's going on here?" Mr Chopra told the Associated Press. "There's got to be like something bigger going on here."

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Jonathan Bacon, 22, added that once on the ground, all passengers were loaded on to buses and taken to the terminal, where each passenger and their personal items underwent additional security screenings that were time-consuming and felt "slightly heightened".

More than two hours after landing, Mr Bacon and his friend said they were still waiting for their checked baggage. "It was definitely the longest flight to Europe I've ever taken," he said.

American Airlines said the plane was inspected and cleared to depart again for New Delhi "as soon as possible" on Monday, after the crew gets some rest.