YIKES!!! ~ I don't understand why the flight "... continued as scheduled ..." instead of landing at the closest airport ~ ~ Sooz

FBI: Passenger Claims Everyone On Inbound Flight To Newark, New Jersey Was Poisoned
ASSOCIATED PRESS- June 17, 2013, 1:13 PM
Updated 2:56 P.M. E.T.

NEWARK, N.J. (AP) — A flight from Hong Kong on which a man claimed everyone was poisoned has arrived safely in New Jersey and the man taken off the plane.

An FBI spokesman says the man stood up during the flight Monday to make the claim but that there is no indication that any passengers were poisoned. United Airlines says Flight 116 continued as scheduled after the man made the statement.

A passenger from another plane at the terminal says a heavy police contingent greeted the flight’s arrival at Newark Liberty Airport.

University of San Francisco student Merrill Amos tells The Associated Press than more than a couple dozen police and emergency vehicles were on the tarmac. She says she saw a staircase pulled up to the plane and an ambulance nearby.

http://talkingpointsmemo.com/news/fbi-passenger-claims-he-poisoned-everyone-on-inbound-flight-to-newark-new-jersey.php?ref=fpb

I have some questions. At what point in the flight did the man make his statement? Were they close enough to another airport to make an emergency landing?

It could be that it was safer to continue on to NJ.