The story of how a German tourist ended up mistaking Bangor for San Francisco

This story was originally published in October 2020.

Erwin Kreuz, a genial, unassuming 49-year-old Bavarian brewery worker, was quite pleased to be making his first trip overseas from his native Germany, when he boarded a World Airways flight from Frankfurt to San Francisco in early October 1977.

His arrival in the City by the Bay was delayed, however, by an unplanned two-week layover in Bangor, during which he thought he had landed in San Francisco — a mixup that ended up changing Kreuz’s life, making national headlines, and becoming a part of local Bangor lore.

Kreuz’s plane, a charter flight that made regular trips between Germany and San Francisco, had stopped to refuel at Bangor International Airport. After the plane landed, a flight attendant woke Kreuz from a nap and apparently w