BOSTON – For the second time in less than a week, a Boston-bound flight was diverted to Maine (search) Tuesday when the name of a passenger was matched to the U.S. government's no-fly list, but the FBI later said the man was not a suspected terrorist.
Alitalia Flight 618, out of Milan, Italy, landed shortly before 1 p.m. at Bangor International Airport (search), where one passenger was removed from the plane along with his luggage. The plane took off again about an hour later and finally reached Boston around 3 p.m.
The man was questioned at the airport by the FBI (search), and U.S. Customs officials were questioning the man Tuesday afternoon to determine if he could legally enter the country.
The nationality of the passenger was not immediately known. An Alitalia spokeswoman said only that the passenger is "not Italian."
Another TSA spokeswoman, Yolanda Clark, said nothing unusual had occurred during the flight. But Canadian fighter jets escorted the flight through that country's air space, and two F-15 Eagles from Otis Air National Guard base on Cape Cod accompanied it into Bangor.
Clark said the agency was "working with Alitalia to determine how the passenger was allowed to board the aircraft."
Last Thursday, an Air France flight from Paris landed in Bangor because someone on board had nearly the same name and birth date as a person on the government's no-fly list.
That flight continued to Boston after the passenger was detained by federal immigration officials. He was later released and allowed to continue his trip after officials determined he was not the man on the list.
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