SOURCE: Long Beach Press-Telegram http://www.presstelegram.com/Stories/0,1413,204~21474~2397682,00.html Smoke trail diverts 2 flights from L.B. Airport Investigators find no threat, believe source is hobby rocket launched from CSULB. By David Rogers Staff writer LONG BEACH ? Two flights were diverted from Long Beach Airport on Sunday morning and other flights were delayed for half an hour, after a smoke trail was reported in the airport's flight path, authorities said. But investigators found no indication that a weapon was used or that any flights were threatened, and the smoke trail probably came from a hobby rocket fired from Cal State Long Beach, said Long Beach police Sgt. David Cannan. The investigation began at about 10:20 a.m., when someone called 911 about the smoke trail, he said. "Although it was not directed at a plane there was no plane that was in the path at the time we went ahead and just took a serious look at it," he said. Long Beach police set up a command post near the university's Pyramid, and flights at the airport were suspended from 11:25 to 11:55 a.m., Cannan said. Tim Kincaid, an American Airlines spokesman, said flight 1343 from Dallas/Fort Worth International Airport was diverted from Long Beach to Los Angeles International Airport, and the flight's 85 passengers were later bused to Long Beach Airport. Elise Eberwein, an America West spokeswoman, said Flight 6093 from Phoenix was temporarily diverted to Palm Springs. But the flight's 86 passengers soon flew from that city to Long Beach, where they arrived at about 1:30 p.m., after their scheduled arrival time of 11:47 a.m. The airline's Web site said the plane left Phoenix nearly 45 minutes late at 11:05 a.m. Airport spokeswoman Sharon Diggs-Jackson said that an Alaska Airlines flight was delayed, but eventually landed safely in Long Beach. An airline operator said that a spokesperson couldn't be reached on Sundays. Kincaid said that 162 American Airlines passengers on flight 290 leaving for New York were delayed. The company's Web site said the flight left for JFK Airport at 1:37 p.m. Sunday, after its scheduled departure time of 12:20 p.m. Although Cannan said police couldn't find any specific incidents of hobby rockets fired from the university Sunday, they did talk to some neighbors who also saw a smoke trail, but didn't think much of it at the time. He said the campus is often used by families to launch hobby rockets because of its large open spaces. The investigation Sunday follows a telephoned bomb threat received by the airport Friday. Cannan said the threat didn't appear credible, but police were investigating the call. He said that there was nothing to indicate that Friday's call and Sunday's smoke trail were related. Diggs-Jackson said the airport had already planned to step up security Friday in anticipation of Saturday's anniversary of the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks. The extra security, which included random vehicle checks, lasted through the weekend, and Diggs-Jackson said the airport will evaluate today whether the measures are still needed. Anyone with information about either of the incidents is asked to call Long Beach police at (562) 570-7250.