20 men removed from diverted plane Disturbance on London to Chicago flight prompts landing at Bangor

BANGOR – An American Airlines flight from London to Chicago was diverted to Bangor International Airport on Wednesday morning and 20 passengers were removed after it was reported they had been disruptive.

The 20 men, all British citizens, apparently were all ultimately headed to Las Vegas on vacation and to celebrate the pending marriages of three members of their group.

But Wednesday afternoon they were left scrambling to find other flights or overnight accommodations in Bangor when their flight left without them, after spending nearly four hours on the tarmac.

Jim Osterrieder, the FBI supervisor for Maine, said that none of the men were charged, although the incident was still under investigation. The case is also being reviewed by the U.S. Attorney’s Office, he said. With no charges against them, the men, all in their 20s, were free to leave.

“They are going to continue on with their journeys wherever they decide to go,” Osterrieder said.

Bangor International Airport officials were notified at about 11 a.m. that Flight 87 from London had been diverted, and the plane carrying 207 passengers and 14 crew members landed about 42 minutes later, according to Rebecca Hupp, the airport director. The flight resumed without the 20 men shortly before 4 p.m.

Problems began shortly after takeoff when members of the group became a little boisterous, walking down the aisles, standing by the bathrooms where they weren’t supposed to, and causing a commotion, the FBI agent said.

Many of them did sit down, Osterrieder said, but one man refused and eventually was confronted by a purser and the two exchanged words. The flight crew then decided to divert to BIA. Osterrieder said he did not think alcohol was involved.

The group of men were associates and friends, some of them attended the same university and some played soccer together, explaining the rumor early on that all the men taken off the airplane belonged to a soccer team.

Bangor police and federal authorities investigated the incident and all 20 men were identified and interviewed by officials, Osterrieder said. The crew and many passengers also were interviewed.

Since the 20 men weren’t returning to the flight, they were processed through customs and allowed to go to the airline ticket counters or to the nearby hotel.

As they headed toward the airport’s lower level, they were greeted by media cameras and reporters. Nearly all refused to answer questions about what had happened or where they were going. One man simply said he was going to “Vegas.”

The flight diversion comes less than a week after another incident in which a Chicago stockbroker caused a flight headed to Morocco to be diverted to BIA.

The man, Zubair Ali Ghias, 27, had been reported missing since Feb. 14 and had placed an in-flight call to his wife claiming he had been kidnapped and forced to fly to Morocco. He was charged in Bangor with making false statements to federal authorities and released on $50,000 bond.