A Virgin Atlantic airplane that sent a false alarm about a hijacking landed safely in Canada on Friday after being diverted there under fighter escort, airline and Homeland Security officials said. Virgin Flight 45, en route to New York from London, was diverted over the Atlantic Ocean after the airplane's transponder emitted a signal indicating a possible hijacking, a U.S. Homeland Security official said. The Canadian Air Force scrambled two CF-18 fighters from Quebec to intercept the flight, said Canadian Air Force spokeswoman Lt. Jennifer Jones. The jets made visual contact with the pilots and escorted the plane to Halifax, Nova Scotia, where it landed about 11 a.m. EDT (1500 GMT) and was met by local officials. The A340-600 Airbus carried 273 passengers and 16 crew. The Homeland Security official said the airline was diverted to Canada out of "an abundance of caution" even though officials later realized the signal was likely a false alarm. The airline said the signal was sent erroneously. "Virgin Atlantic's flight operations department is in contact with the flight crew on the aircraft and they have confirmed that this is a false alarm," the airline said in a statement. "Virgin Atlantic is investigating the technical reason for this," it said. The plane was being checked before being allowed to continue on to New York, officials said. -- SP 2249 Local Time 1949 GMT
