I saw where London -> Chicago Diverted to Bangor ME. Hmm, It's troubling when the plane has to set down in Bangor. There is generally limited flights out of Bangor (I think). The good thing about Bangor is it isn't an island. It's probably possible to rent a car and drive to Boston to catch a flight to Chicago. Oh well, I'm reasonably confident that it must have been another misunderstanding.
Maybe that was the instance where a passenger got into a conflict with a flight attendant.
Also, I saw where a bomb sniffing dog reacted to a stick of dynamite in a college kid's checked bags at George Bush Intercontinental Airport in Houston. It seems the kid wanted to bring back a souvenier from some mine in Argentina. Can't you imagine the funny stories the kid will be able to share with others when the kid is maybe 20 years older, and he looks back on it and laughs?
Of course, maybe there is actually a serious effort to try blowing up airplanes. Maybe some of these attempts are serious. The terrorists probably don't mind disrupting air service, in fact, they'd prefer to have a serious economic impact.
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In other aviation incidents, the AP reported:
• An American Airlines flight from England to Chicago, Illinois, was forced to land in Bangor, Maine, in response to an unspecified threat, authorities said. Passengers deplaned and were led to a holding area, said airport manager Rebecca Hupp. The jetliner was on the tarmac with its engines shut down.
"The [Transportation Security Administration] learned of a reported threat to the aircraft while it was en route," TSA spokeswoman Andrea McCauley said, declining to give further details.
• A U.S. Airways jet was diverted to Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, after a federal air marshal subdued a disruptive passenger who had pushed a flight attendant, the FBI said.
The passenger was taken into custody at Will Rogers World Airport, FBI spokesman Gary Johnson said. The passenger was undergoing a mental evaluation, and authorities had yet to determine what criminal charges he might face. The twin-engine jet returned to the air three hours later on its flight from Phoenix, Arizona, to Charlotte, North Carolina.
• A Continental Airlines flight from Corpus Christi, Texas, to Bakersfield, California, was held in El Paso, Texas, one of its scheduled stops, after the crew discovered that a panel was missing in a lavatory, authorities said.
• A utility knife was found on a vacant passenger seat of a U.S. Airways flight from Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, to Bradley International Airport in Connecticut, state police said. No arrests were made and there were no threats involved, said Master Sgt. J. Paul Vance, state police spokesman.
• An Aer Lingus flight from New York to Dublin, Ireland, was evacuated Friday morning during a scheduled stopover in western Ireland following a bomb threat that turned out to be unfounded, officials said.
I really think the airlines have abused the paranoia and FAA rules and have no problem being rude when it suits them. All of this makes for a strange atmosphere when travelling. Better not talk back to a flight attendent lest you be labelled as a terrorist and have the air force escort your plane to a cow pasture in Oklahoma.
Now I do a lot of travelling and rarely ever have had any problems, but you know the way people are treated can go above and beyond the limit of being tollerable.
You look like Bush...?
Besides being dumb, I'm sure he ruined the day for about 200 other people. I hope he at least gets a fine of some kind.
Take for instance, the taking off shoes malarkey. Do you really think those TSA people know anymore about shoes than the rest of us? What about prosthetics?
Update: there was a guy who got up and walked somewhere on the plane while the fasten seat belts light was on, supposedly. Once the plane landed in Bangor, the individual was taken off of the flight in handcuffs.