A PILOT accidentally locked himself in the bathroom on a flight to New York City and touched off a brief hijacking terror scare.

The incident underscored the fears about air travel that linger more than a decade after 9/11.

The captain of Delta Flight 6132 got stuck in the lavatory Wednesday during the flight from Asheville, North Carolina, to La Guardia Airport. When a passenger with what the co-pilot described as a "thick foreign accent" tried to alert the cockpit, the co-pilot became alarmed and notified air traffic controllers, according to a recording of the radio exchange from the website LiveATC.net.

Indianapolis-based Chautauqua Airlines, which operates the flight for Delta, said the pilot had decided to take a bathroom break about 30 minutes from LaGuardia after controllers told the crew to expect to be in a holding pattern.

The sole flight attendant on board had entered the cockpit because security rules require two crew members in the cockpit at all times. The commuter jet was carrying 14 passengers.

The captain gave the passenger a password to get into the cockpit, but co-pilot and flight attendant remained doubtful.

As the minutes ticked by, a controller told the co-pilot to consider declaring an emergency, giving the plane priority over others.

The captain eventually freed himself and assured controllers there was no danger. AP