Source: Man cites explosives, jet diverts to Maine
ATLANTA, GA
Richard Stansberry said government officials told him the man
who was detained after the Paris-to-Atlanta flight was diverted to
Maine is his son, 26-year-old Derek Stansberry of Riverview, Fla.
The father said government officials questioned him, but he was
as perplexed as they were.
"My son's profession in the military required he live a squeaky
clean life," Richard Stansberry said.
The father said his son served four years in the Air Force
before leaving last year for a job in the private sector. He
wouldn't identify his son's employer, but said the firm does work
for the Air Force.
There were 235 passengers and 13 crew aboard Delta Air Lines
Flight 273. The flight landed safely just after 3:30 p.m. at Bangor
International Airport.
According to U.S. officials who spoke to the AP on condition of
anonymity because the investigation was ongoing, the man claimed to
have explosives in his luggage and a fake passport. They said his
passport was authentic. The officials would not say what rank he
held or the type of discharge he received.
Federal officials met the aircraft at the airport. The
Transportation Security Administration said the passenger was being
interviewed by law enforcement.
After the man was apprehended, flight attendants collected
passengers' pillows and blankets, piling the cushions in the back
of the plane, according to Charde Houston, an all-star forward for
the WNBA's Minnesota Lynx who was on the flight.
"It was definitely surreal, something you only hear about,"
Houston told the AP in a telephone interview.
It was not immediately clear what the significance was of the
pillows being taken from passengers.
After the failed attack aboard a Detroit-bound flight on
Christmas Day, for a period of time there were extra pat-downs
before boarding flights, no getting up for the last hour of the
flight and some passengers reported being told they couldn't have
items in their laps, including laptops and pillows.
Houston, 24, said that when Tuesday's flight landed, FBI agents
boarded and helped remove the suspect, who was wearing handcuffs.
"He looked extremely calm, like a blank face. No emotion,"
Houston said of the man who was removed.
Richard Stansberry, of Apollo Beach, Fla., said he has not yet
been able to speak to his son.
"Unfortunately, I don't think they'd let him call me," the
elder Stansberry said. "In a situation like this, the government
is doing what it is supposed to do."
NORAD, the North American Aerospace Defense Command, did not
launch any military fighters in response to the flight, spokesman
John Cornelio said. "By the time we were brought into the
equation," the passenger was already under the control of air
marshals, Cornelio said from Colorado.
All passengers were taken off the plane because it was an
international flight and they needed to clear customs, said Rebecca
Hupp, airport director.
Delta originally said the Airbus A330 would continue to Atlanta,
but an announcement over the airport loudspeakers at 6:30 p.m.
alerted passengers that they'd be spending the night in Bangor. The
airline was arranging for transportation and lodging at a local
hotel.
The Bangor airport is accustomed to dealing with diverted
flights.
It's the first large U.S. airport for incoming European flights,
and it's 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.
Delta, based in Atlanta, is the world's largest airline and has
a joint venture with Air France-KLM on flights across the Atlantic.