Jet leaves Halifax after false hijack alert

A Virgin Atlantic Airlines plane took off from Halifax Friday afternoon, four hours after it was escorted there by two Canadian fighter jets amid fears it was being hijacked.
The scare turned out to be a false alarm, triggered by a malfunctioning emergency transponder aboard the Airbus, which was carrying 273 passengers and 16 crew members.After a police emergency response team did a sweep of the plane to confirm there was no threat to the passengers and crew, Flight 45 continued its interrupted journey from London to New York at about 4 p.m. Atlantic time.