Canada PM plane passes Houlton by

HOULTON – Cpl. Dana Duff of the Houlton Police Department stood at the fork in the road leading to the Houlton International Airport, pausing only to wipe rainwater from his glasses while directing traffic away from the terminal area.

Duff’s police radio crackled with the voices of state and federal law enforcement officers, drowned out at times by the hum of the ATVs circling him and carrying armed U.S. Border Patrol agents .

“Can you believe all the security around here?” Duff asked, shaking his head at the mass of green and blue uniforms assembled in front of the airport office building and the incoming unmarked police cars. “It looks like it’s gonna be a big one.”

But less than 20 minutes later, Duff’s radio crackled again.

“Called off,” the voice confirmed.

It was like getting an invitation to the prom, but your date never shows up.

Airport officials expressed disappointment Wednesday morning when a plane carrying Canadian Prime Minister Paul Martin was diverted to Fredericton, New Brunswick, due to poor visibility and a low cloud ceiling at Houlton International Airport.

Rain fell softly in the morning and continued most of the day. The plane was 600 feet over the top of the airport and was slightly visible in the sky through a film of clouds before it was diverted.

U.S. Secret Service agents and the Royal Canadian Mounted Police worked with local law enforcement to secure the airport in anticipation of Martin’s arrival. The media, kept roughly 2,000 feet from the plane’s landing zone, could only watch and wait.

Martin was scheduled to land shortly before 9 a.m. Wednesday, according to Terry Larson, fixed-base operator at the airport.

“Martin was to land and be escorted by motorcade to Woodstock, New Brunswick,” Larson said. “I only know that he was meeting with 100 businessmen there. The pilot [of Martin’s plane] tried twice to land at the airport, but could not do it.”

Traffic headed toward the airport on Interstate 95 was halted by police at 8:30 a.m., officers said.

“We coordinated the security effort because the prime minister landed on U.S. soil,” Mike Magalski, resident agent in charge of the Portland Secret Service bureau, said Wednesday.

Martin’s jet dipped low toward the runway during its initial approach and pulled up to circle the airport before attempting a second try.

After that landing was thwarted, Martin’s motorcade sped off toward the Canadian border.

Larson said Wednesday that Martin would be driven from Fredericton to his Woodstock meeting.

The airport official said he first heard that the prime minister was arriving at the airport early last week.

“We got word last Wednesday,” Larson said. “We were going to use our hangar and two trucks from the Department of Public Works to shield [Martin’s] plane when it landed.”

Larson said he was sworn to secrecy about Martin’s arrival, and background checks were done on airport employees. He said he was told that the RCMP did not want any politics involved in the event.

Despite his disappointment, Larson said he enjoyed working to coordinate the event.

“I’d never worked with the Secret Service before,” he said.