Threats Halt Pair of Southwest Flights

(CNN) -- Two Southwest Airlines flights from Orange County, California, to Phoenix were the subject of security scares Tuesday night -- and authorities are investigating whether the incidents are linked.

Both planes were eventually cleared after officials determined a threat did not exist.

Southwest Airlines flight 811 was headed to Phoenix's Sky Harbor International Airport from John Wayne Airport when officials removed passengers and brought in a bomb squad and canine units to search the plane, said Laura Eimiller, FBI spokeswoman in the agency's Los Angeles office said.

"No threats of any kind" were found, said Orange County Sheriff's Lt. Joe Balicki.

In the second incident, Southwest flight 1184 was taken to an isolated area at Sky Harbor after it flew in from John Wayne after authorities received a "non-specific threat," said Ashley Dillon, the spokeswoman for the airline in Dallas.

Passengers and their bags were re-screened. and authorities did not find anything, Dillon said.

"We take any kind of threat seriously," she said.

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