Delayed BA jet takes off for US

Security concerns have surrounded several recent British Airways flights

Saturday's British Airways flight 223 to Washington DC - cancelled two days running amid security fears - has finally taken off from Heathrow.

The plane had been due to leave at 1505 GMT but extra security checks led to a further three hour and 20 minute delay.

All 268 passengers were searched and taken on board one by one as armed police and sniffer dog teams stood by.

Detectives questioned some passengers and the full list was checked by US officials before clearance to leave was given.

BBC correspondent Andy Tighe, who is aboard the plane, said the passengers and crew were relieved security had been so stringent.

Many people, myself included, were pulled aside by Special Branch officers just before we got onto the plane and quizzed about why we were going to the United States BBC correspondent Andy Tighe

There had been "surprisingly few" complaints about the delay.

"Before take-off the pilot reassured passengers they were on the safest aircraft anywhere over the Atlantic.

"Perhaps people watched the safety information videos a little more carefully, perhaps they fastened their seat belts a little bit tighter - but overall they were simply glad to be on their way."

Security fears also grounded BA flight 263 to the Saudi capital Riyadh on Saturday, plus its return on Sunday.

BA is considering whether to restore the service on Monday.

Transport Secretary Alistair Darling said the flights to Washington and Saudi Arabia had been cancelled due to "specific information".

He told BBC Radio 4's Today programme he would not give a "running commentary on specific threats" but the UK Government had access to similar intelligence as the US and acted upon it.

FLIGHT SECURITY FEARS Christmas - six Paris to Los Angeles flights cancelled Wednesday - AeroMexico flight from Mexico City to Los Angeles cancelled Wednesday - BA flight 223 shadowed by fighter jets, plane searched and passengers questioned Thursday - BA flight 223 from London to Washington cancelled Thursday - Air France New York flight lands in Canada for baggage check Thursday - BA flight from Washington delayed for extra security checks Friday - BA flight 223 from London to Washington cancelled Saturday - BA flight 263 from London to Riyadh cancelled

Mr Darling warned that the terrorist threat was likely to continue for the foreseeable future, with tighter security meaning some inconvenience for air passengers.

BBC security correspondent Frank Gardner said his sources believed flight 223 was cancelled on Thursday and Friday because of fears a terrorist suspect was planning to hijack the aircraft and crash it into a target in Washington.

An official with the US homeland security department confirmed there had been "very specific and credible concerns" about the flights.

"We take these decisions extremely seriously knowing the inconvenience it creates for the travelling public," Asa Hutchinson, Under-Secretary for Border and Transportation Security, told BBC News.

However, there were separate reports in the New York Times, quoting an American official, that the BA flights had been grounded because of pilots' reservations about flying with air marshals on board.

The government announced earlier in the week that armed guards would fly on some flights.

'Great care'

Speaking before boarding flight BA223 on Saturday, internet company manager Shirley Newman, 56, of Springfield, Virginia, said: "After everything they have done, it will probably be the safest flight I have ever been on board.

"You can never be entirely sure but... they seem to have taken the greatest care possible over security."

But Jane Polley, 38, of Newport Beach, waiting to board a flight to Los Angeles with her family, said Heathrow's security "doesn't seem that good".

"In LA they were lot more thorough," she said.

Ahead of Thursday and Friday's cancellations, flight 223 on New Year's Eve was kept on the runway for three hours after landing in Washington as security officials boarded and questioned passengers.