Update: Flight diverted to KCI cleared after suspicious device on board

An airliner on a transcontinental flight was diverted to Kansas City International airport Sunday afternoon after a suspicious device was found in one of the plane’s bathrooms.

The 227 passengers and crew were allowed to reboard the airplane five hours later after a thorough search.

The American Airlines flight was bound from San Francisco to New York’s JFK International Airport when the device, reportedly a computer flash drive, was discovered, KCI spokesman Joe McBride said.

The Boeing 767 landed at KCI around 1 p.m. and taxied to a remote location for a thorough search, McBride said. The 227 passengers and crew were bussed to Terminal C, where they waited until the all-clear was given around 6 p.m..

“Not an explosive device,” Kansas City Police chief Darryl Forte wrote in a tweet at about 5:30 p.m., and he said the bomb and arson squad had left the scene.

This story was originally published January 5, 2014 at 4:47 PM with the headline "Update: Flight diverted to KCI cleared after suspicious device on board."