BANGOR, Maine — A flight en route from Paris to Charlotte, N.C., was diverted to Bangor International Airport on Tuesday after a female passenger announced she had a surgically implanted device, according to airport and federal officials.
The woman, a French citizen born in Cameroon, did not have any checked baggage, and there was no information that indicated she was a known or suspected terrorist, another official said.
“The passenger has been detained by the federal authorities,” said Tony Caruso, interim director at BIA.
US Airways Flight 787, a Boeing 767, was carrying 179 passengers and nine crew members from Charles de Gaulle Airport in Paris to Charlotte, and the plane landed at BIA shortly after noon, Caruso said.
A spokesman for the North American Aerospace Defense Command said two F-15 fighters were scrambled to escort the plane to BIA.
The aircraft was met on the runway by law enforcement officials, according to airport marketing manager Risteen H. Bahr.
Just before 2 p.m., Caruso announced the plane had been deemed safe and that Cyr buses took the passengers from the aircraft to a secure area, where they were to wait before completing their trip to North Carolina.
“We certainly would love to reload the passengers and send them on their way to Charlotte to finish their journey, but we’re waiting to hear from authorities to make sure that we can reload the airplane,” Caruso said. “Right now they’re safe and secure.”
The passengers also were receiving food and beverages, according to Caruso.
“The passengers were relatively calm given the situation,” he said.
With the passenger in custody, the Boeing 767 was cleared several hours later to continue to its final destination in Charlotte.
The Bangor Police Department’s bomb squad was called to the scene, as per standard procedure when a flight is diverted for security measures, Caruso said.
Caruso said he could not confirm that the female suspect had an explosive device.
“At this point all we know is that the aircraft has been deemed safe,” said Caruso.
One official, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said the passenger appeared to be mentally unstable and that she announced that she had a surgically implanted device.
The flight had departed Paris at 11:03 a.m. local time.
Greg Comcowich, a spokesman for the FBI in Boston, said shortly after 1 p.m. that agents based in the Bangor office went to the airport to investigate a report of an unruly passenger. He said that was why the plane was diverted to Bangor.
Comcowich later added that he could not release the woman’s name because she has not been charged with any crimes yet. No one on the plane was in any danger, he said Tuesday afternoon.
The Transportation Security Administration said the flight was diverted “out of an abundance of caution.”
U.S. Sen. Susan Collins of Maine, the ranking Republican on the Homeland Security Committee, said late Tuesday afternoon that TSA Administrator John Pistole “advised me that a female passenger passed a note to a flight attendant stating that she was carrying a surgically implanted device. Two doctors on board the plane examined the woman, but found no evidence of surgical scars or incisions. Fortunately, the aircraft landed safely in Bangor and the female passenger has been taken into custody by the FBI.
“We have seen intelligence identifying surgically implanted bombs as a threat to air travel,” Collins added. “My understanding is TSA issued security directives recently to airports, airline carriers, TSA screeners, and foreign governments advising them to take added screening precautions and to be on the lookout for indicators of surgically implanted explosives.”
The Bangor airport is accustomed to dealing with diverted flights.
It is the first large U.S. airport for incoming European flights and the last U.S. airport for outgoing flights, with uncluttered skies and one of the longest runways on the East Coast. Aircraft use the airport when there are mechanical problems, medical emergencies or unruly passengers.
In 2010, a Paris-to-Atlanta flight was diverted to BIA. Last August, a federal judge in Bangor found that a former Air Force intelligence specialist, who had claimed to have explosives aboard the trans-Atlantic flight, had suffered from a brief psychotic break caused by a lack of sleep, dehydration, stress and body-building substances.
U.S. District Judge John Woodcock found Derek Stansberry, 27, of Riverview, Fla., not guilty by reason of insanity on charges stemming from his actions aboard the April 27, 2010, flight.
BDN writers Nok-Noi Ricker and Judy Harrison and The Associated Press contributed to this report.
the Bangor Daily News has a great on-line presence, but remember, it is a newspaper. Not typically the place for breaking news! lol.
I was actually surprised it was somewhat current, I wouldn’t expect a BDN report for another 2 days on this.
I will repost my comment because nobody has a sense of humor or the truth hurts:
It is pretty sad that CNN knows more about what is going on in our backyard then our local media outlets
I was shocked when I saw your comment was flagged for review. I’m not getting which “guidelines,” and I use that term loosely, you are breaking. lol
The guidelines don’t exist, they are an as needed basis apparently lol
Why is that sad? What local media company has the resources of CNN?
Didn’t realize CNN has a local office, it seems the AP has more of a presence then a physical person who used to get news by actually doing things to get it and not wait for another outlet. I mean what if let’s say an individual had a bomb in their apartment, someone calls it in, it comes across the scanner but a new outlet out of a different state, makes publication, so in this case we have a flight, coming to Bangor, where we have a paper, and the best we got when this was first published was “A plane is being diverted according to CNN” and we get a link to CNN’s website. No we are sending out a crew, a photographer, etc. Instead we sit at the wire all day for news that happens in the same city. The TV stations managed to not rely on the wire, they managed to dispatch a crew, give some live feeds and update stories as needed. Perhaps breaking news should be handled by them, and not by someone who sits at the wire all day. Not a lot of people get paid to let someone else do their work.
BDN is reporting the woman claimed to have a bomb( see captions under photos). CNN is saying she never claimed to have an explosive implant. Guess they scooped CNN on that one.
“The source spoke on condition of anonymity because it involved sensitive law enforcement information.”
Yes, like what kind of embarrassing, humiliating treatment the woman may have been subject to, how long she was subject to it and how much money they are going to have to pay her after the civil suit.
According to the article, the passenger “announced” that she had a surgically implanted device, so any “embarrassing, humiliating treatment” she may receive, she brought it on herself.
Must be an ACLU employee.
With 188 lives at risk I find your comment rather embarrassing. Please never seek employment on an airliner.
Good to see BGR performing the duty it’s well designed for! The more landings at B.I.A. the better… and we’ve got the ability to check all the folks through customs quickly and so forth. Wish the airlines still realized the value of having a plane land, do customs here efficiently, and then fly onward as a domestic flight!
Bangor International’s duty is to serve as the dropoff point for every dingbat who manages to get onto a transAtlantic flight? Odd. I thought it was an airport, not an asylum.
Yep, it brings revenue to BGR. And it avoids the problem causing major tie-ups at airports like BOS, LAG, JFK, EWK, DCA, etc.
I’m not sure “duty” means what you think it means, but the rest of it’s a fair point. Unfortunately, it also brings international dingbats to Bangor, but hey, into each life a little rain, right? :)
OK time to start screening this people for mental health before boarding.
…
For starters, match them up with their BDN forum username, there are some clearly unhinged people who post here :P
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good one.
That’s the problem with crazy, it often isn’t obvious.
….
True. I’m thinking it went something like this – another passenger on the plane started talking to a woman about terrorism and bomb scares…about people having or having implanted devices who have evil purposes in mind. It occurs to her she has an IUD. She panics, because she hasn’t “declared,” the thing, and starts thinking the “device” will set off alarms, or dogs, and wants to explain. Seems a pretty “mentally” stable response to me.
I was wondering the same thing– if she could have been confused about what something like an IUD. Who knows how much education she has about her “implanted device”.
….
How do these crazies have enough money to even buy a freakin ticket? Man, wish I had a rich dad.
That’s why she’s crazy, she probably had a rich dad.
What were the escort of F-15 fighters for?
To shoot down the plane if it were to not in control.
I just don’t see a scenario where this woman would have handed the stewardess a note, managed to break down the locked cockpit door, then overpower the pilot and co-pilot. The pilot had to be in communication with the authorities so they would have known the plane had not been hijacked.
Why spend zillions of tax dollars to scramble F-15s to potentially shoot down a plane that is being threatened to be blown up. It sounds like she was going to do it for free…
Just watched a clip on Fox news covering the circumstances of this flight and of course the reporter pronounced Bangor as “Banger” Maine; Happens every time.
It was on FOX; consider the source!
And liberals such as Katie Couric would pronounce it better?
It has nothing to do with any network or supposed political leaning. My job brings me al over the country, and most people mispronounce Bangor. This is idiotic. I suppose you are insinuating the reporters on FOX are unsophisticated because they are more than likely Republican. It’s a wonder any of us Republicans graduated any kind of higher education.
Why do they struggle so with that word? I mean the last two letters are O and R which put together spell OR. Bang-OR. I always get a chuckle when I hear someone pronounce it with the ER sound.
What about Mainah’s pronoucing it Bang-gaw? Just as bad.
but that’s the correct way–only it’s spelled “Bangah” not “Bang-gaw”
if you can’t BANGER in BANG-ER…..then do her in BREWER!!!!!!
Makes one wonder how hard it is for folks to understand it’s “Bang Gore”, just like the Welsh and Irish towns from which the hymn tune got its name, and thus our city. We should invite “Al Gore” to town and give him a key or something. The publicity might finally fix the national perception. Having lived a few years in Dothan, Alabama, at least I know we’re not alone in having a most-mispronounced town name.
hey, if you can’t banger in banger, then do her in brewer!!!!! LOL
Exciting photo of people walking down stairs.
What photo would you expect to see?
Well, I suppose they could’ve gone with a still frame from the 1984 Controlled Impact Demonstration – it would’ve been more interesting – but including a picture of a remote-controlled Boeing 720 going down in flames at Edwards Air Force Base with this article would have been misleading on several levels.
I have surgical knee implants and I have a card stating so from my surgeon. Anyone who has any kind of surgical implant would have identification stating so that needs to be shown at the departure area and would then be reported to airport security to verify I would assume before boarding. I haven’t flown since the surgeries were done.
I’m betting anyone with a implanted bomb does not have a note from their doctor. You can see the difference hopefully.
I had both knees replaced a few years ago,and when I flew out of BGR last year,I told the agent about them,and was treated accordingly-no problem. On my return flight from RDU,they had the full-body scanner,but I advised them about the knees ahead of time. I don’t understand how this woman was able to board an international flight without her “implanted device” not being seen in a scanner…
When she boarded the plane in Paris going to Charlotte NC with no checked in luggage, should this cause a red flag to start flying?
I got to hand it to the BGR TSA they asked me questions why I had no carry on and checked no bags…. I didnt need to because I had clothes where I was going..
That passenger is damned lucky the others didn’t open the door and push her out over the ocean. I sure would’ve been tempted.
Er… so are the others, since that would have killed everybody on board.
I’m thinking she could have been testing our response times and methodologies. I know, conspiracy theory, etc, but it’s not really so far out there. Simply say yes if you agree.
I see what you did there.
With an 11,440 foot runway originally designed to accomodate B-52’s, a 24 hour tower, full fire and police service, extensive medical facilities, and a geographic location ideal for inbound/outbound emergencies, Bangor International gets a lot of these stopovers. Can you imagine the stress of making an emergency landing at Logan, with its heavy traffic, short runways, and over water approach? Perhaps some of those deplaning passengers will get a whiff of our clean air, and come back for a visit under more relaxed circumstances.
?? Logan has 2 runways that are just over 10,000 ft in length. Those are “short runways?”
http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/a/a8/KBOS_airport_diagram_2011.svg
Actually, beltrams, the problem isn’t that BOS Logan has 10 thou foot runways… it’s the GLIDE PATH, as in freaking large buildings and tight turns coming in. BGR is so clear at both ends of the 15/33 that the SPACE SHUTTLE could have landed at BGR. Amazing what no skyscrapers does for landings.
Actually, I have an artifical hip. I have flown many times since that surgery 13 years ago. I flew twice this year and stood in front of the “X-ray machine.” I asked if they saw my hip replacement. They invited me to turn around and look at the image myself. Guess what? No sign of my artificial hip. Machine never beeped either.
Could have been a pace maker?
my question is why when a flight has to be diverted because of some nut job on the flight they bring the planes to us in Maine? Is it that we in Maine are more expendable than others in other states ? or is it that we deserve less respect than others on other states? What ever the reason is I, like the airlines do want want these fruit loops in my state as much as they don’t want them on their plane.Next time find another state to divert to as we here in Maine deserve better.
Reading is fundamental. BGR is the simplest airport for a pilot to land at on the Eastern seaboard. A space shuttle could have landed here. You could land a 747 with one engine. The western and eastern approaches have about zero population in the glide path. Safety, sir, safety.
bangor is actually one of the back-up runways for the shuttle……
Media people, among the lowest forms of life found anywhere, struggle with aviation facts and figures. I half expected the media to say that a USAirways ‘787’ had to divert to Bangor.
That would explain why I saw the fighter jets today. Was wondering what the deal was.
did u see the F-15s????
I’m a cab-driver and was sitting at BIA towards the end of that dog-n-pony show….they said two f-15s….ok, what were the four french mirages doing flying low n slow down the length of the runway???? the US has nothing in it’s fighter inventory that even remotely resembles what i saw…..
When I saw the first one I wasn’t sure what I was looking at right away but I was some distances away. I was toping the hill on Route 2/100 heading towards Hermon so I had a great view of the sky and I only saw the jet from the side. Was it an F-15 I’m not sure to be honest but when I first spotted it I had no clue what it was.
It could be a terrorist testing responses to a recent piece of intellegence. It has been only recently that the TSA warned of surgically implanted bombs and so the terrorists decided to see what would happen.
F-15 fighters escorted it??? then what were the four fighters that flew down the length of the runway in formation at about 500 feet, peeling off one at time???? the US has no fighters in service that have a delta wing design like the old F-106…….they looked alot like a french Mirage fighter to me….