United passenger who forced flight to divert to Bangor ID’d

A British national who created a disturbance aboard a London to Newark flight that was forced to make an emergency landing in Bangor, Maine, last week became irate and threatened to “mess up the plane” after crew members asked him to lower his voice.

Passengers and crew of United Airlines Flight 883 worked together mid-flight to physically restrain the hothead, identified in court papers as Alexander MacDonald, 30, of Hackney, London, who the flight’s captain believed “represented a threat to his aircraft,” according to an FBI affidavit.

The incident started around 8:30 a.m. EST on March 1 when a the cabin crew manager heard him loudly arguing with his girlfriend and asked that he lower his voice for the sake of other passengers.

Although he initially complied, a short time later MacDonald started yelling at a flight attendant, this time from the aircraft’s rear galley, according to a federal criminal complaint.

The United crew manager stood between MacDonald and the the flight attendant and attempted to calm MacDonald down, but the Brit flew into a rage, being “verbally and physically abusive” while asking if the crew member would like to “have a problem” and threatening to “mess up the plane,” the affidavit states.

Two passengers helped the flight crew restrain MacDonald using flex cuffs, but his temper tantrum continued, and he could not be contained to the crew rest area on the plane.

At that point the captain and the cabin crew manager both determined the plane needed to be landed “for the safety of the crew. The captain believed that “continuing the flight to Newark was too great of a risk,” according to the criminal complaint.

The Boeing 767, which took off from London Heathrow with about 160 passengers and 10 crew members on board, safely touched down at Bangor International Airport at 9:59 a.m. local time — just 90 minutes before it was scheduled arrive in Newark, according to Flight Aware.

Video from the incident posted on X shows uniformed officers on board lifting MacDonald out of his seat as his fellow passengers cheer and applaud.

Another video shows officers carrying him down a set of mobile runway stairs and into a waiting squad car, his wrists and ankles bound.

MacDonald is facing one count of interference with a flight crew or attendant and an assault charge, which combined could result in a max sentence of more than 20 years.

He’s being remanded in custody until his trial due to a high level of flight risk, according to court records viewed by the Bangor Daily News.

The British Consulate in Boston said it had no information to make public at this time.

MacDonald’s attorney, Matthew Morgan, did not return a call seeking comment Monday.