Air India Passenger Not on 'Watch List'

Feb. 28 -- Federal officials have released a passenger who arrived in New York on board an Air India jetliner after a concerned security screener in London set off alarms, saying the man resembled someone on a "watch list" of possible terrorists and criminals.

A screener at Heathrow Airport in London was concerned by one of the passengers who boarded Air India Flight 101, and voiced his concerns after the plane took off, law enforcement officials said.

This evening, officials with the federal Office of Homeland Security said the passenger was not on the list. He was interviewed for about an hour in New York, then released, FBI officials said.

The Boeing 747 left Heathrow this morning and landed safely at New York's John F. Kennedy International Airport a little before 5 p.m. ET.

Fighter jets were deployed to shadow the aircraft from a distance so as not to alarm passengers, military officials said. After it landed, the plane taxied to a remote section of the airport, away from passenger terminals.

The plane was believed to be carrying 378 passengers and 19 crew members.

No Cause for Alarm

Members of the Air India crew were in a reinforced cockpit and reportedly told Federal Aviation Administration officials they were not alarmed.

British law enforcement officials also said the passenger in question was not acting suspiciously aboard the plane.

New York City Police Commissioner Raymond Kelly said that there was apparently "some sort of confrontation between one of the screeners and a passenger getting on the plane."

Kelly said that after the person boarded the flight, the screener said "this individual looks like somebody who may be wanted, or words to that effect. That's what has triggered this alert."

ABCNEWS' Lisa Stark and Dennis Powell and WABC in New York contributed to this report.