September 13, 2006
Wednesday

A knife found under the seat of a Pittsburgh flight to North Carolina on Sunday appears to be a tool used when carpeting was recently installed in the jet, law enforcement officials said.

Flight 1897 to Charlotte, N.C., was canceled after a passenger found the small knife under a seat Sunday evening.

"It may have inadvertently been left behind by workers installing carpet in that plane," Lt. Beth Hoover of the Allegheny County police said.

The pilot aborted the takeoff, and the 142 passengers and five crewmembers got off the plane while a security sweep was conducted. The passengers were taken to Charlotte on another plane later that night.

Hoover said the object looked like a utility knife with a retractable blade, although US Airways spokesman Philip Gee quoted passengers and airline employees as saying it looked more like a medical utensil.

Gee confirmed, however, that carpet was installed on the aircraft Aug. 27. U.S. Air Marshals and the FBI were still investigating. "It does not look like there was any sinister intent at this time," Special Agent William Crowley, the FBI spokesman in Pittsburgh, said.

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