The captain of a US airliner yelled about a bomb and had to be locked out of the cockpit and restrained as the Las Vegas-bound flight was diverted to Texas, passengers said.

A passenger jet flying from New York to Morocco was ordered to return to the US after receiving a bomb threat, authorities said.

An airline pilot, thought to be British, has been detained by police in Washington on suspicion of drinking alcohol.

US President George W Bush has named Tom Ridge to head the new Department of Homeland Security, but said even the biggest government shake-up in more than a half century can “neither predict nor prevent every conceivable attack”.