Is Bangor, Maine Expendable........

[global1]

if a diverted jet explodes in Bangor, Maine with 'dirty bomb' materials on it ........ Bangor, Maine is far enough away from any financial and political center in the U.S. that there would be little consequence to economy. Is this why they divert suspected jets to Bangor? If this is so and I was a resident of Bangor or Maine I would raise holy hell. I wonder who makes the decision to divert jets to Bangor? an air traffic controller or the FAA or Homeland Security?

[dogday]

1. Wonder how the citizens of Bangor feel about this?

[hobbit709]

2. Yes and no

In the scheme of neocon things, Bangor would be considered expendable.
The geographical reality puts Bangor as the closest US location to flights arriving from Europe.

[merbex]

13. As a former Flight Attendant i can tell you it is because it is the

first "Port of Entry" into the US from Europe

[napi21]

3. Did this plane land yet?

I keep checking CNN & MSNBC but haven't see anything in the last 10-15 mins.

And to answer your question, I'm sure it IS because the population of Bangor is significant;y smaller than Boston or NY.

[quispquake]

4. Hmmm...

Living 50 miles from Bangor, (and considering I was there yesterday), I feel PRETTY FUCKING SICK about this...

[Beelzebud]

5. They better not harm Stephen King! :) n/t

[Zing Zing Zingbah]

6. I hope not!

I'm from that area and all my family and friends still live near there. I love the Bangor area, but I'm sure people that aren't from there couldn't care less about what happens there.

[Guy_Montag]

7. It's common to have an relatively small airport as a safe place

to land a suspicious airport. From a UK pov would you rather have it scattered all over London or the Essex countryside? Well if I lived in Essex, London, but common sense suggests Essex would be better.

So in the UK, Stanstead is the airport planes are diverted to. They are set up for anti-terrortist ops & have vastly more fire equipment than they should.

[murray hill farm]

8. my first thought!!

if it is too dangerous to land it in boston...then it must be too dangerous to land it in bangor! Unless................maine is not all that important..the people who live there are not all that important...but the thing that is the scariest about the whole thing is that it is so blantenly and openly the message that is blasted over the media...with no one questioning it..as if it is OK that the plane is diverted to maine...no..it is not OK

[Old and In the Way]

9. Bangor International is the closest US stop from Europe.

The runway is over 2 miles long, so it can handle anything that flies.

I sure as hell hope that that isn't the reasoning...I live about 40 miles due west...

[DemoTex]

15. Bangor is a beautiful sight when low on fuel after an Atlantic crossing.

Headwinds 50% greater than the forecast said on the North Atlantic Tracks? Holding for Boston, JFK, and Philly? Sweaty palms looking at the fuel burn? No problem-o. Zip into Bangor for a quick and easy refuel. They have it down to a science. And while they fuel your Boeing 767, you can get the galley ice replenished, order catering if you need it, and have those oh-so-smelly biffies (lavatories) dumped. I love Bangor because I've been there and done that!

However, they shouldn't dump security problems at Bangor. Those should go to a military installation. Oh, I forgot. They are all being closed in liberal New England. There is always Gander, Newfoundland (another sight for sore eyes after a hairy crossing). I'm sure the Canadians would be happy to run interference against international terrorism for us.

[The Donkey]

10. I lived a few miles from Bangor

for 7 years (went to the University of Maine for undergrad and grad school). I believe that the flight was diverted there because it is the closest airport to northern Europe for flights coming and going to the U.S. I remember going to greet the troops coming home from the first Gulf War in the early 90's.

So that is the likely cause of the diversion. Plus, as has been previously pointed out, it has a much lower population concentration than other major airports.

[Zing Zing Zingbah]

12. My husband and I are UMaine grads.

My brother is currently going to school there too.

[The Donkey]

14. Hiya!

Don't you think we have the best school song of any university in the country??

It is all about drinking after all . . .

Oh, fill the steins to dear old Maine
Shout till the rafters ring
Stand and drink a toast once again
Let every loyal Maine man sing
Then drink to all the happy hours
Drink to the careless days
Drink to Maine, our alma mater
The college of our hearts always

To the trees, to the sky, to the Spring and its glorious happiness
To the youth, to the fire, to the light that is moving and calling us
To the gods, to the fate, to the rulers of men and their destinies
To the lips, to the eyes, to the girls who will love us someday


Of course, the lyrics have been correctly changed now so as to be gender neutral, but the sentiment (fun) is still there.

[donsu]

11. yeah, I wondered too - does the airport have special ops to handle

these special plane landings? special training? extra money?

[DemocracyInaction]

16. They do it to confuse terrorists

I live in southern Maine. Any terrorist that got dumped off up there on the edge of the boonies would be looking around and saying "what the fuck.....". Go out and buy the CD "Men from Maine" and then you will understand.

[GreenPartyVoter]

17. Good lord. I am only 40 minutes away and go shopping up there often enoug

I certainly don't FEEL expendable. :(

[Maine-ah]

18. I would hope that nobody sees any area as expendable.

Um, and especially Maine. :-)

Though I think what you have there is a good theory. Bangor is a shopping/college town. No, I don't think it would cause much harm to the overall economy in the U.S. but it sure would cause some major financial harm to the whole state, which would then in turn, cause some damage to the economy, but nothing huge.

[nashbridges]

19. It's the nearest place to land if a flight is coming in from Europe.

It's also just plain smart to divert questionable planes to less populated areas. I live in DC and they've redirected many flights to Dulles instead of DC National. While the folks that live around Dulles are certainly not expendable, there are a lot less people in Dulles than there are around National.

I think it comes down to simple math. If landing a plane has the possibility of killing anyone within a 50 mile radius of the airport, you look for the airports with the least amount of people living around it.

Assuming that the plane has to land somewhere, where else would you have it go?

[kiraboo]

20. Confuse the terrorists?

I'm a Bangorite and I haven't forgotten that at least one of the terrorists spent an afternoon at a local internet cafe before attempting to get a flight from Bangor to Boston for a Sept. 11 rendezvous. It's an unpleasant memory. Yes, I'm certain that our little city in a blue state would be considered expendable but BIA is a commonly used refueling stop, and we have had more than our share of emergency visits by aircraft wanting to dump an unruly passenger. I may not like the idea of a dirty bomb detonating a few blocks from my home but I don't believe there is an insidious government plan behind the forced landings.

edited to change "dirt" to "dirty"! A dirt bomb doesn't pose much of a threat, hehe.

[Stinky The Clown]

21. Bangor is safe ....... no jet is going to explode any dirty bomb ......

.... and no truban headed guys in floppy pajamas are going to come running off the plane, scimtars a-wavin'.... Bangor is the unlucky recipient of the cabal's designation as 'East Coast Puppet Theater". They have cameras there to record every deliciously diversionary moment of these "security landings'. Funny how none happen when there's no UK memo out there that needs smoke and mirrors.

This is just one more song in the grand symphony for the enjoyment of the reluctant audience here in what we call Bush's America.