CENTRAL ISLIP, N.Y. — A New York woman has pleaded guilty to phoning in a false bomb threat to Tucson International Airport on Sept. 11, 2011.
Mary Purcell admitted calling the Tucson airport because her mother and brother were scheduled to take a Southwest Airlines flight that day, prosecutors say. The woman said she feared for their safety on the 10th anniversary of the terrorist attacks.
Purcell admitted making the call during a court proceeding last week in federal court on Long Island, Newsday reports.
After the call, Tucson bomb squad officers searched the luggage for traces of explosives, and searched the plane with police dogs.
No bomb was found.
FBI agents on Long Island arrested Purcell days later. She faces up to 10 years in prison.
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