A plane bound for London was diverted to Bangor Tuesday night after two passengers became disruptive.
TUI flight BY49 took off from Cancun, Mexico, for London’s Gratwick Airport about 5:07 p.m. EDT on Tuesday, according to FlightAware.
During the flight, two passengers were caught smoking in the bathroom and the pilot warned that the plane would be diverted if the disruptive behavior continued, LBC News reported.
Passenger Terry Lawrance, 66, told the British media outlet that the duo was “obviously drunk.” And when their disruptive behavior continued, the plane was diverted to Bangor International Airport, where it landed about 9:28 p.m. EDT, according to FlightAware.
But while in Bangor, the flight’s crew “timed out” and had to rest, according to Aimee Thibodeau, a spokesperson for Bangor International Airport.
Passengers had to wait in the customs area while a relief crew was sent to Bangor because it was an international flight, Thibodeau said Friday.
She noted that it’s not unusual for flights to be diverted to Bangor because “we’re the first stop in and the last stop out of the U.S.” Usually, passengers don’t even need to get off the plane, which was necessary in this case because of the crew’s mandated rest period.
Once the relief crew arrived, the passengers resumed their journey to London and left Bangor about 3 p.m. Wednesday.
“This incident involved a foreign-to-foreign flight that diverted due to an in-flight altercation between two passengers. Upon arrival, CBP officers removed both individuals from the aircraft. Although no criminal charges were filed, CBP processed the two subjects for expedited removal. They were subsequently returned to their home countries on separate outbound flights,” U.S. Customs and Border Protection said in a statement.
Correction: An earlier version of this report misspelled Aimee Thibodeau’s first name.