per Mike Levine and Justin Fishel
A former U.S. Air Force intelligence specialist forced an Atlanta-bound flight to land in Bangor, Maine, after he claimed to have explosives in his luggage, according to several U.S. officials.
Federal air marshals restrained the man as Delta flight 273, carrying 235 passengers and 13 crew members from Paris, landed in Bangor around 3:30 pm ET, one official told Fox News.
Law enforcement officials, including representatives from the Transportation Security Administration and FBI, took the man into custody and were still interviewing him early Tuesday evening.
As of early Tuesday evening, authorities were still trying to determine whether the man was in fact carrying any explosives. He also claimed to have boarded the flight with “fake” documents,” but authorities believe the man’s travel documents are authentic, according to one official.
Homeland Security Secretary recently said diverted flights are never an overreaction.
“Where airline security and air security is concerned, those are judgments that should not be second-guessed,” she told Fox News in an interview last week. “There’s really not room for error there.”
A TSA statement said Tuesday’s flight was diverted “out of an abundance of caution.”
Authorities would not identify the suspect, but two officials said he served as an Air Force intelligence specialist from June 2005 to June 2009.
No charges have been filed yet.