British man arrested in flight misconduct Plane lands at BIA after air rage incident

BANGOR – A 49-year-old British man on Saturday became the latest in a long line of unruly passengers to cause an international flight to be diverted to Bangor International Airport.

Christopher Gavin of England was arrested Saturday afternoon and charged with the federal offense of interfering with a flight crew. After his arrest, he was taken to Penobscot County Jail, where he was being held without bail pending an initial appearance today in U.S. District Court in Bangor.

According to interim airport Director Rebecca Hupp, Gavin was a passenger on a Continental Airlines flight from Paris to Houston when his conduct became so flagrant that the pilot decided to land in Bangor. The flight, which landed here about 2 p.m., was delayed about two hours while Bangor police removed and arrested Gavin.

Details about the actions that led to Gavin’s arrest were unavailable this weekend. Bangor Police Department officials referred questions to the FBI and to BIA. A jail official confirmed, however, that alcohol was a factor in the incident.

Jail personnel said that Gavin apparently is a British subject, though he has identification issued by Texas. Jail officials offered to contact the British embassy offices in Boston, as is required in cases involved British citizens. Gavin accepted the offer.

Hupp said the incident was not related to the recent terrorist troubles that have plagued the nation since last month.

“It was just your average unruly passenger.”

Since May 1999, 10 flights have been diverted to Bangor to remove rowdy passengers, all of whom were arrested. The most recent incident before Saturday occurred in May.