Irate passenger issues bomb threat

A man who had been drinking on a Delta flight from Atlanta to Ireland issued bomb threats to members of the flight crew, saying he would blow up the plane among other outlandish claims. The man is now if federal custody awaiting trial.

44-year old Portadown, Northern Ireland resident Aiden Simon Mackle will have a detention hearing held today, charged with assault and flight crew interference under the accusations that when aboard Delta flight 146 from Atlanta, he became aggressive with a flight attendant, saying he was associated with Osama Bin Laden and would hijack the plane.

Apparently, according to an affidavit released by the FBI, trouble started when Mackle smoked a cigarette in the lavatory, whereupon he was confronted by a flight attendant. He is said to have punched another off-duty flight attendant, after the pilot had decided to make an emergency landing in Bangor, Maine. The other 184 passengers had to wait for approximately two hours before the flight was able to resume its course.