Passenger Comment Grounds Airliner
A TACA Airlines plane bound for Central America was grounded at San Francisco International Airport early Tuesday when a flight attendant thought she heard a passenger say he had a bomb in his carryon luggage.

The Airbus 320 was scheduled to depart at 1:30 a.m. for El Salvador and Costa Rica but instead was towed to a remote location after the attendant reported the comment.

Authorities searched the plane's interior while dogs sniffed passengers' luggage after the bags were removed from the cargo hold, airport spokesman Mike McCarron said. The searches turned up nothing unusual.

All 90 passengers were asked to leave the plane and were re-screened. The flight finally departed at 6:15 a.m.

McCarron said the passenger who was overheard by the flight attendant is being questioned by authorities and said there may be "some confusion" about what he said. The passenger's name was not released.

El Salvador-based TACA, one of Central America's largest airlines, flies to North, Central and South America and the Caribbean. The airline travels to Central America from San Francisco five days a week.