U.S. turns back flight from Spain, others delayed

Thursday October 4, 1:34 PM EDT

MADRID, Oct 4 (Reuters) - U.S. aviation officials ordered an Iberia (IBLA) aircraft back to Spain mid-air on Thursday after the flight failed to meet reinforced U.S. security requirements, officials said.

Other flights from Madrid to destinations in the United States were delayed, Spanish Airports and Air Navigation (AENA), Spain's aviation authority, said in a statement.

"Once airlines that fly to the United States and the airport of Madrid/Barajas bring their boarding procedures and aircraft in line with the new specifications and requirements introduced by the FAA, flights will normalise," the statement said.

An AENA spokeswoman said she was unaware of new measures introduced by the U.S. Federal Aviation Authority (FAA) on top of those announced after last month's attacks on New York and Washington by suicide hijackers in passenger jets.

An Iberia spokeswoman said she could not comment on the details of the FAA's clearance procedure but said the delays and the turn-around on Thursday were due to changes in the system.

The flight which was turned around was an Iberia flight from Madrid to Chicago which shared codes with American Airlines (AMR). It departed Madrid's Barajas airport at 1150 local/0950 GMT and returned at 1428 local, AENA said.

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-- Martin Thompson (mthom1927@aol.com), October 04, 2001