FRYEBURG – A French pilot was detained after landing a private airplane at Eastern Slope Regional Airport Thursday night. U.S. Border Patrol requested law enforcement authorities detain the man until a Border Patrol officer could respond from Rangeley.
According to the police incident report, Border Patrol alerted them to the presence of an airplane that did not have clearance to be in the United States.
Fryeburg police Sgt. Michael McAllister found the airplane on the ramp at the airport when he arrived at 7:15 p.m. The pilot was found in the airport lounge using a pay phone. The man and his French passport were turned over to Border Patrol around 11:30 p.m.
Agent Monte Bennett of the Border Patrol said Friday that he could not release information on the incident though he believed the pilot was not arrested, adding that the circumstances of the man’s unauthorized presence in U.S. air space was due to “extenuating circumstances.”
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