State left in dark on diverted flight

PORTLAND – Gov. John Baldacci and state law enforcement agencies were out of the loop when someone on the federal government’s watch list was detained and an international flight was diverted to Bangor International Airport, officials said Wednesday.

Federal officials vowed to be more forthcoming in sharing information after being criticized after the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks for failing to keep local law enforcement agencies in the loop.

Three years later, there was no protocol for sharing information with state agencies when the singer formerly known as Cat Stevens was detained in Bangor, said Lee Umphrey, Baldacci’s spokesman.

While there was no pressing need for the state to be notified since it was a federal matter, it would have helped had state officials been in the loop about what was going on, Umphrey said.

United Airlines Flight 919 from London to Washington’s Dulles International Airport made an unscheduled stop in Bangor at 2:49 p.m. Tuesday, said Rebecca Hupp, airport manager.

The plane took on fuel while two people were questioned and the flight continued at 7:39 p.m., she said.

State agencies had to reach out to get information to brief the governor Wednesday morning, officials said.

“We don’t look at this as a problem. We look at it as something we can learn from,” said Lynnette Miller, spokeswoman for the Maine Emergency Management Agency in Augusta.

Miller said the state has a good working relationship with federal agencies that were involved, including the FBI, Transportation Security Administration and Customs and Border Protection.

But she said all parties could learn from the episode.

“It was a federal operation and within their resources so there wasn’t any need for the state to be involved from that perspective. But we’ll be talking about the communication issues as we go along,” she said.