A US Federal Aviation Administration official turned back a US-bound passenger plane and delayed another 10 flights from Madrid complaining of lax airport security, a Spanish newspaper reported Friday.
The unnamed inspector insisted Thursday that security officials at Madrid-Barajas airport use a more powerful scanner to check luggage before issuing the all-clear, El Pais reported.
His demands caused seven-hour delays for 10 flights bound for the United States and forced an Iberia plane, operating a code-share flight with American Airlines to Chicago, to return to Madrid one hour after take-off.
The paper said that the only such scanner available was used exclusively by El Al, the Israeli national carrier.
Iberia confirmed that an FAA inspector was at Madrid on Thursday to check airport security.
Security at airports around the world has been tightened following the September 11 terror attacks in New York and Washington using hijacked planes -- MADRID (AFP)
