March 28, 2024
BANGOR DAILY NEWS (BANGOR, MAINE

Comair forced to turn back> Mechanical glitch mars airline’s 1st day at BIA

BANGOR — A Comair flight about 40 minutes out of Cincinnati en route to Bangor had to turn back Tuesday because of a malfunction in a de-icing sensor on an engine.

Four hours earlier, Comair officials had touted the airline’s safety record during a welcoming ceremony on its first day of operations at Bangor International Airport.

Flight DL5479 was scheduled to leave Cincinnati-Northern Kentucky International Airport at 2:40 p.m. While the plane sat on the tarmac, the pilot announced that takeoff would be delayed because of “a broken switch,” said Bangor resident Jim Morgan, a passenger on the flight. At 3:15 p.m., the pilot said the “switch” was fixed and the plane took off, he said.

At about 4:15 p.m., the pilot told passengers the flight was heading back to Cincinnati, said Hampden resident Greg Higgins. “Rather than take a chance, they turned around and we changed planes,” he said.

The plane did not land immediately at the Cincinnati airport, but circled it five times to burn fuel, Morgan said.

The pilot told passengers a malfunctioning de-icing sensor on an engine was a concern and he wanted to go back to the airport, Higgins said.

“The crew followed proper procedure,” said Comair spokeswoman Merry Meyer, in Bangor for the airline’s first day of operations here.

A Federal Aviation Administration employee in Atlanta said the mechanical problem was “no big deal, I can guarantee you that.” An official FAA spokesman was unavailable for comment.

Comair passengers expecting to leave BIA on the airline’s 5:05 p.m. flight to Cincinnati had to change their plans. Meyer said the travelers were placed on either Business Express or USAir planes to Boston or New York for connections to Delta Air Lines flights.

The incoming flight was scheduled to arrive at 4:45 p.m. It got to BIA at 7:30 p.m.

The mechanical problem was a big deal for people waiting for family members to arrive. Judy Mallett of Norridgewock, whose boyfriend, Jack Bailey, was on the flight, sat in the terminal finishing a crossword puzzle. “I drove about 95 miles an hour to get here from Skowhegan to meet the plane,” she said. “I wonder what the problem was. I just hate this. If I knew I was going to have to wait this long I would have brought my sewing.”

Also waiting were Susan Osborne and Mary Jane Cote, both of Brewer. “My father called my sister’s house and said the flight was delayed,” Osborne said. “He said he didn’t know why and asked if the weather was bad up here,” she said.

Osborne said she called the airport an hour before the flight’s scheduled arrival to make sure the plane would be on time. “They said yes, it would be, it’s our first day here,” she said.

Cote said she tried to call the airlines to find out arrival times and to ask what the problem was. She said she called directory assistance for a Comair information telephone number and none was available. Then she called Delta, she said.

“I told the lady the flight was from Cincinnati to Bangor,” Cote said. “The lady said, `Bangkok, flight for Bangkok.’ I hung up.”

“If they’re coming into Bangor they need to advertise their numbers,” Osborne said. “We’re not impressed.

The flight landed in Bangor at 7:30 p.m. Cote and Osborne’s parents, Shirley and Cecile Spear of Hampden, were on the plane.

“The first flight was beautiful,” Cecile Spear said. “We got over halfway home and had to go back. The second flight was beautiful, too.”


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