Teen detained after in-flight request

BANGOR – Police briefly detained an Orono teen-ager of Middle Eastern descent at Bangor International Airport on Sunday night after he asked to enter the cockpit of a plane on which he was flying.

Flight personnel denied the request made by Michael Munson, 18, and he returned to his seat without incident, a report by the Bangor Police Department stated.

Roy Roke, a federal marshal on Pan American Flight 226 from Baltimore to Bangor, noticed Munson writing in a notebook and requested that local police meet the scheduled landing at BIA because the passenger was acting suspiciously, a report by Bangor police Officer Daniel Herrick said.

Munson was not questioned about the notebook.

He was detained for about five minutes before officials deemed that the Orono resident seemed “sincere and a little naive.” No charges were filed.

According to the report, Munson “said he saw how beautiful it was outside his windows and since the cockpit had more windows he thought he could get a better view outside.”

Munson, a student at Massachusetts College of Art, told police “he didn’t think of what he said in light of the September thing” and that he thought it was appropriate based on what he had seen in movies, the report stated.

Munson doesn’t believe he was singled out because of his ethnicity. In retrospect, he said Monday that he thought his request was “pretty ridiculous.”

Officials from Pan American Airlines at BIA refused to comment on the incident.

The student reportedly had no carry-on luggage and had checked only a guitar onto the plane after a visit with a friend in the Baltimore area. It was not confirmed if his lack of luggage or carry-on made him additionally suspicious to authorities.

Munson’s parents, Henry and Fatima Munson of Orono, had been waiting for their son’s flight and took him home after he answered the questions of local police, the report said.

“I think it was silly of Michael to talk about stuff like that after what happened,” said Fatima Munson on Monday. “We have to be careful. I hope he learned his lesson.”

“It was an error in judgment on my part,” said Munson. “They were just doing their job.”