Alitalia jet diverted to Maine to check passenger
May 17, 2005
BOSTON -- An Alitalia jet en route from Milan to Boston was diverted to Maine on Tuesday because the name of a passenger on board matched that of a person on the U.S. government's no-fly list, officials said.
Flight 618 was due to arrive in Boston at 1:10 p.m., Alitalia spokeswoman Marta-Marie Lotti said.
Instead, the Boeing 767 was expected to arrive at Bangor International Airport between 12:30 p.m. and 1 p.m. and would be met there by federal law enforcement officials, Transportation Security Administration officials said.
Canadian fighter jets were escorting the flight through Canadian air space, and U.S. fighters were expected to escort the airliner into U.S. air space, TSA spokeswoman Ann Davis said.
"The FAA has been in contact with the pilot and there's no report of any unusual activity on board," she said.(snip) http://www.boston.com/news/local/massachusetts/articles/2005/05/17/alitalia_jet_diverted_to_maine/