NATO AWACS plane lands in Bangor

BANGOR – A NATO surveillance, control and communications plane based in Europe flew into Bangor on Friday, stopping over to refuel before heading for maintenance in Oklahoma.

The E-3 Sentry AWACS, which stands for airborne warning and control system and is recognizable by its large rotating radar dome on top, could be seen in the air above Bangor in the midafternoon.

The recognizable plane landed at the National Guard facilities at Bangor International Airport about 2:30 p.m., Col. Don Reynolds, commander of the 101st Air National Guard Refueling Wing, said.

Such landings happen fairly often with planes headed to and from their base in Germany, Reynolds said. The planes sometimes stay overnight depending on how much flight time the crew has left. Once here, the crews of the AWACS planes sometimes practice landings and takeoffs and instrument approaches as there is not as much air traffic in Bangor as in other airports, he said.