UPDATE TO: Another Airplane Diverted to Bangor, Maine

*** UPDATE***

Scroll down to the update link and read an amazing personal account of one individuals account, Blogger Nick Genes, of being on Alitalia flight 618 when it was diverted to Bangor, ME.

It would appear that for the second time in a week an International flight to the United States is being diverted to Bangor International Airport. This time it is an Alitalia jet en route from Milan, Italy to Boston, MA where it seems that a passenger on the flight matched that of a person on the U.S. government’s no-fly list.

Flight 618 landed shortly before 1 p.m after Canadian and U.S. fighter jets escorted the Boeing 767 to Bangor, where it was met by federal agents. It had been due to arrive in Boston about the same time.

It was the second time in less than a week that a Boston-bound European flight was diverted to Bangor. On Thursday, an Air France flight from Paris landed there because someone on board had nearly the same name and birth date as a person on the list of suspected terrorists.

Bangor International Airport has become a stopping-off point for problem flights because it is the last major U.S. airport for jets headed across the Atlantic and the first for incoming flights.

Let’s just hope that they diverted this plane for a good reason this time. Then again maybe we shouldn’t wish this. I guess the one explanation I would ask for is why can’t this be done when the plane is on the ground? It would seem a bit disconcerting being on a plane bound for Bangor, ME knowing there might be a terrorist on board. They may want to rethink the passenger list thing at Homeland Security.

UPDATE: A MUST READ
Get a first hand personal account of what it was like to be on the Alitalia flight 618 from the Blogborygmi. In his own words, Nick Genes :

When I explained that the luggage search, refueling, and flying home would take at least another hour, Mom asked what we were still doing on this plane. It’s a good question: if this man is wanted by the US, and dangerous enough to prompt a landing at the first available international airport on US soil, why not evacuate the plane during the luggage search? Wasn’t it possible we were sitting on a on a ticking bomb?