London-Washington flight diverted to Boston

The passenger aboard United Flight 923 said she was claustrophobic and became very upset and got into some kind of confrontation with the flight crew, said George Naccara, security director for the Transportation Security Administration for Massachusetts8217; airport.

The disturbance8212;coming just a week after authorities in London said they foiled a terror plot to blow up trans-Atlantic flights8212;was enough to concern the pilot to issue an alert, which activated two fighter jets to escort the plane into Logan, Naccara said.

Two F-15s were scrambled from Otis Air National Guard Base on Cape Cod to escort the airliner, said Master Sgt Anthony Hill, spokesman for the North American Aerospace Defence Command in Colorado Springs. He said the fighter pilots can intercept, shadow or escort commercial aircraft and, if ordered, shoot down an aircraft deemed to be a threat.

Naccara said he did not believe any items she was carrying were the cause of the outburst. An airport spokesman, Phil Orlandella, previously confirmed broadcast reports that the woman was carrying Vaseline, a screw driver, matches and a note referring to al-Qaeda, but backed off the statement. Naccara said it wasn8217;t true.

8216;8216;I don8217;t know what she had on board with her, but we have been told she did not have a screw driver, she did not have any liquids such as Vaseline, and any notebook she may have had, it did not contain an al-Qaeda reference,8217;8217; Naccara said. 8216;8216;This is still playing out, of course.8217;8217;

The flight had 182 passengers and 12 crew members, UAL Corp spokesman said.