Paris, April 28: A Delta Airlines flight en route from French capital Paris to the US city of Atlanta has been diverted to Maine after a passenger claimed he had explosives and made threats to detonate them.
The passenger, identified as Derek Stansberry of Apollo, Florida, was subdued by US air marshals on Tuesday before being taken into custody upon landing.
The detained passenger, a former Air Force reservist, also claimed that he had false documents. Officials said an inspection of the aircraft after it landed found no evidence of explosives. Stansberry’s boast of having a fake passport also turned out not to be true.
Delta Flight 273 was an Airbus 330 with 235 passengers and a crew of eight on board. The flight, from Paris Charles de Gaulle International Airport, was due to land at Hartsfield Jackson Atlanta International Airport. Instead, the plane landed in Bangor, Maine, the easternmost airport in the US that can accommodate such a large jet.
The officials said Stansberry’s backpack and shoes had been placed in the rear of the plane and other luggage and blankets were packed around it as part of a measure to minimize the potential damage from an explosion.
——–Agencies