BANGOR (AP) – A passenger accused of threatening to blow up a jetliner bound for Dublin, Ireland, will remain in jail until a detention hearing Wednesday.

Aiden Simon Mackle, 44, of Portadown, Northern Ireland, was accused of telling a Delta Air Lines employee that he was a terrorist after drinking and becoming unruly on Flight 146 from Atlanta. The flight was diverted to Bangor International Airport early Saturday.

Mackle, who made his first court appearance Monday in U.S. District Court, faces federal charges of assault and interfering with a flight crew. He was being held Tuesday in the Piscataquis County Jail in Dover-Foxcroft, where he declined an interview request.

The problems began Saturday night after Mackle, who’d been drinking, went into the restroom and smoked a cigarette, a violation of federal rules, according to an FBI affidavit filed in court.

When he was confronted, Mackle became verbally abusive to a flight attendant and told her he was associated with Osama bin Laden and was going to hijack the plane, according to the affidavit.

Later, Mackle responded to an off-duty AirTran Airways pilot who told him that the flight may have to make an emergency landing, “OK, I’m a terrorist. Go ahead and land the plane,” and then proceeded to punch an off-duty Delta flight attendant who warned him that he may have to be restrained, the affidavit said.

The Boeing 767 made an emergency landing early Saturday, the first at Bangor International Airport because of an unruly passenger since August 2006.

said Rebecca Hupp, airport manager. The remaining 184 passengers left Bangor after being on the ground for about two hours, she said.