Tuesday March 21, 2017
Officials have banned certain electronic devices on flights to the
U.S. from 13 international airports due to increased terror threats,
sources told Fox News Monday.
The ban is the result of an increased "volume" of
chatter suggesting that Al Qaeda and other groups are still looking for
ways to sneak explosive materials onboard planes.
Earlier Monday, Royal Jordanian Airlines announced on its Twitter
account that the carrier had banned all electronic or electrical devices
from carry-on luggage on flights to and from New York, Chicago, Detroit
and Montreal effective Tuesday, March 21.
According to the statement, which cited instructions from "concerned
US departments," cellular phones and medical devices were exempt from
the ban but laptops, tablets, cameras, DVD players, and gaming devices
may only be transported via checked luggage.
Royal Jordanian's tweet was deleted later in the day
and a representative from the airline was not immediately available for
comment.
Sources told Fox News that the new regulations were not related to
President Donald Trump's executive order halting travel to the U.S. from
six majority-Muslim countries, but are likely to apply to airports in
those countries. Jordan was the only country confirmed to be subject to
the ban.
As of Monday afternoon, the Transportation Security
Administration (TSA) had not issued a warning banning the electronic
devices listed by Royal Jordanian in its social media announcement.
In October, the U.S. Department of Transportation
issued an emergency ban for fliers and crewmembers on Samsung Galaxy
Note7 smartphones on all commercial flights in response to several reported incidents of the phones catching fire.
Fox News' Jennifer Griffin contributed to this report.