Passengers lock themselves in plane lavatory

An airliner was diverted to Fort Smith, Arkansas after four passengers behaved strangely on the flight, including at least three who locked themselves in a lavatory, possibly shaving their body hair.

No injuries were reported.

Northwest Airlines Flight 979, an Airbus A320 had been travelling from Memphis, Tennessee, to Las Vegas, yesterday, with 94 passengers and a crew of five. The Northwest pilots decided themselves to land at Fort Smith as a precaution, the airline said in a statement.

US officials said the incident was not believed to be related to terrorism.

However, KSTP-TV in Minneapolis, where Northwest Airlines is based, quoted an unidentified source as saying the men were “shaving themselves clean”. A source said people on board the aircraft gave investigators similar accounts.

After last year’s terror attacks, documents found in the luggage of attack leader Mohamed Atta gave what appeared to be instructions for the suicide hijackers: “The previous night, shave the extra hair from the body (and) pray.”

The men appeared to be of Middle Eastern descent, said Jim Harris, a spokesman for Governor Mike Huckabee.

The FBI in Little Rock said the men were taken off the plane but their whereabouts were unknown.