Thursday, 4:30 PM
Flight diverted to Bangor in 1 of 6 airline incidents
By Michael Levenson, Globe Staff, and Andrew Ryan, Globe Correspondent
A Boeing 767 carrying 118 passengers from Manchester, England, to Chicago was diverted to Bangor International Airport this afternoon because of a reported threat to the aircraft while it was en route, the Transportation Security Administration said.
Nenette Day, a spokeswoman for the FBI, said that the nature of the threat was not immediately clear. The plane landed at about 12:45 p.m. She said FBI agents would be interviewing the passengers and flight crew to determine what had happened aboard the plane, American Airlines Flight 55.
The TSA released a statement saying the plane was also being searched by dogs. Arlene Murray, a spokeswoman for the FAA, only said that the diversion was for "security reasons."
American Airlines spokesman John Hotard said that the flight would continue to Chicago as soon as a new crew arrived. The crew that worked the transatlantic leg of the trip had worked too many hours and needed to be relieved, Hotard said.
The diversion to Bangor came on a day with several seemingly unrelated problems with airliners across the globe. In total, there were issues involving six planes.
Earlier today, a U.S. Airways jet was diverted to Oklahoma City after a federal air marshal subdued a passenger who was involved in an incident with a flight attendant, according to the Associated Press. In Ireland this morning, an Aer Lingus flight from New York was evacuated after a bomb threat.
In Houston, baggage screeners found traces of dynamite in the bag of a college student flying on a Continental Airlines flight to Houston from Argentina. Dogs alerted on the bag at Bush Intercontinental Airport shortly after Continental Flight 52 landed. According to the AP, the student was from Connecticut and attends Lafayette College in Easton, Pa.
In Connecticut, crews found a utility knife on a vacant passenger seat of a plane traveling from Philadelphia to Bradley International Airport, according to the state police. No arrests have been made and it is unclear how the knife got on the plane.
Also in Texas, the crew of Continental Airlines Flight 2258 discovered a missing panel in one of the plane's bathrooms, according to the AP. The flight from Corpus Christi to Bakersfield, Calif., was held at one of its scheduled stops in El Paso, where passengers were interviewed about the incident.
In Maine, Bangor International Airport is one of the eastern most airports in the United States and a frequent stopping point for transatlantic flights that have encountered mechanical problems or trouble with passengers.
Television cameras showed the plane waiting on the tarmac with its engines off.
The Bangor Daily News reported on its website that a yellow school bus could be seen taking passengers to the airport’s International Arrivals Terminal. Maine Governor John Baldacci told the newspaper that he ordered the head of his Executive Protection Unit to the airport to assist state and local police already on scene.
On Thursday, a Boeing 737 en route from Manchester, N.H. to Charlotte, N.C. made an emergency landing at Logan International Airport in Boston after passengers complained that a sulfurous smell in the cabin was making them light-headed.
