A pilot flying a Saudi royal family aircraft that landed in Bangor Tuesday was arrested on an outstanding warrant from Florida, the Penosbscot County District Attorney’s Office said.
Mancin Urbanski, 49, waived extradition at his first appearance Wednesday in Bangor and will be held without bail until police from Sarasota County, Florida, transport him south, said Penobscot Assistant District Attorney Marianne Lynch.
Urbanski was one of four pilots aboard the private Boeing 767 that stopped in Bangor on its way to Los Angeles, she said.
Urbanski is accused by police in North Port, Florida, of committing the equivalent in Maine of felony theft when Urbanski allegedly took $9,000 from a Florida man in 2016 and promised to help get the victim a pilot’s license and a job with the Myanmar National Airlines, Lynch said.
“He was engaging in a cyber crime,” Lynch said.
Lynch said police learned of Urbanski’s warrant because his name was included on a master list of people aboard the flight.
Authorities then used the list of names and dates of birth to check for warrants or other issues, Lynch said.
‘It’s part of the protocol when you’re coming in, they run everyone’s name,” she said. “Even if you’re not deplaning.”
It was unclear if the flight remained in Bangor or went on to its final destination; Lynch did not know the aircraft’s tail number, which is tracked by the Federal Aviation Administration. It’s also unknown whether any members of the Saudi royal family were aboard.
“I don’t know why they stopped there,” Lynch said. “There could be any reason why they stopped.”
Bangor’s airport, with an exceptionally long runway at more than 11,000 feet, means it can accommodate planes of practically any size, including the Space Shuttle. The facility is also shared with military flights, and is frequently a jump-off point for troop flights headed to the Middle East.
Airport Director Tony Caruso said the flight landed for a technical stop, which typically means the passengers needed to clear Customs, refuel or resupply before heading on to a final destination.
Caruso said he could not release information about this particular flight, but said it is fairly common for foreign aircraft to stop at Bangor before or after a transatlantic flight.
The airport is also used as an impromptu stopover, sometimes drawing celebrities looking to refuel, or airplanes that are diverted or land for emergency reasons.
In 2004, Yusef Islam, the singer formerly known as Cat Stevens, was arrested at Bangor International after his plane headed for London was diverted there. Stevens had been placed on a no-fly list and was barred from the United States, and when transportation officials learned he had boarded a flight back to London, they ordered the plane diverted to Bangor.
The Bangor airport was the scene of more drama in 2010, when John Travolta landed at the airport. During the stop-over, a service vehicle struck and killed two small dogs that belonged to the actor, who also at the time owned a mansion on Islesboro.
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