Terrorist bomber on Xmas flight

Booner!

Booner!

Booner!

Soldato
Joined
29 Sep 2005
Posts
9,128
Just watched the news, reports of a Nigerian male attempting to blow up an airliner landing in Detroit?

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/americas/8430699.stm

A Nigerian reported to have links to al-Qaeda is being questioned after an attempted act of terrorism on a plane arriving in the US, officials say.

They say the 23-year-old man was trying to ignite an explosive device as the jet approached Detroit from Amsterdam.

He was overpowered by some of the 278 passengers and 11 crew. Reports say he burnt his leg. No-one else was hurt.

Police in the UK are conducting searches and inquiries into the man, believed to be a London student.

Nigeria has ordered its security agencies to investigate the incident and verify the suspect's identity and motives. It has also said they will "co-operate fully" with the US investigations.


ANALYSIS
Gordon Corera
Gordon Corera, security correspondent, BBC News

It wouldn't be the kind of explosion which would immediately bring a plane down. It's not very clear whether there was some kind of explosive device associated with it which didn't detonate, or whether the aim was to try to cause a fire.

Investigators will be looking into who's behind this individual, what links there may be with al-Qaeda, what network was involved and who might have supplied the material.

It looks like another attempt to find some substance which could get through airport security but also be powerful enough to bring down a plane.

There's a suggestion the individual may have come from Nigeria. Did he get a connecting flight? Was there a looser security regime where he originated? Authorities will be looking through his itinerary to see where any weak links might have been in the security chain.

The Nigerian, named as Abdul Farouk Abdulmutallab, had third-degree burns, said Peter King, a Congressman on the US House of Representatives Homeland Security Committee.

The Metropolitan Police said its officers were liaising with the US authorities, and University College London says it has a student of the same name.

Officials have described the device as a mixture of powder and liquid which failed to go off properly.

One terrorism expert said it looked as though a new way of concealing explosives on the body was involved.

President Barack Obama, on holiday in Hawaii, has ordered increased security for air travel.

White House spokesman Bill Burton said the president was monitoring the situation.

The suspect's name was in a database indicating "a significant terrorist connection" although it did not appear on a "no-fly" list, said Mr King.

Mr Abdulmutallab reportedly told investigators he had links to al-Qaeda and had received the explosives in Yemen.

Mr King also said investigators were looking into whether the incident was part of a larger plot and a "worldwide alert" had been raised.

The US Department of Homeland Security said "additional screening measures" had been put into effect since the incident.
Click to expand...

Quick to the internets! (on Xmas!)
 
Last edited:
i don't want to sound like i'm not taking that seriously - but since when could 'firecrackers' blow anything up?

stupid though, what ever the reason for doing it!
hope it didn't ruin too many peoples christmas days - i can't imagine being very festive after a fright like that!
 
Last edited:
Fireworks all they would do is take someones eye out, doubt the pilots would even notice.

Least 9/11 got security tip top, Dutch are going to get a bollocking.
 
Yep, doesn't seem very co-ordinated based on these early reports. Terrorists have failed to ruin my Xmas....now where did I put that beer I put down :)
 
What a fool, cause terrorism charges carry such lenient sentences.

Also he was subdued immediately? I assume by passengers, if so nice job.
 
Last edited:
1247148563timwestwood.jpg


(but shopped with explosives etc.)
 
Last edited:
SideWinder said:
Hmm. What was a Nigerian doing on a flight from Amsterdam to the States...
Click to expand...

I've flown that route a few times Amsterdam->Detroit Int. always seems 60-70% of the passengers are asian or african - tho mostly seems to be middle/upper class indian students.
 
Rroff said:
I've flown that route a few times Amsterdam->Detroit Int. always seems 60-70% of the passengers are asian or african - tho mostly seems to be middle/upper class indian students.
Click to expand...

It was a tongue in cheek comment. :p

But seriously, i wonder why that is...if it was from India > America then fair enough but what is in Amsterdam besides drugs and women? :confused:
 
Dunno I've never noticed so many on flights from Heathrow to the States.

I go that way as its usually cheaper to go Bristol->Amsterdam->Detroit than flying directly from a major UK airport (and I like flying KLM).
 
lighting a firecracker on a plane now counts as terrorism? I'm not saying that the guy wasn't an idiot and deserves some jail time for it, but terrorism? there have been people who have got drunk on the drinks that they serve on planes and caused more of a problem than a little firecracker, yet they aren't branded as terrorists, just idiots.
 
Terrorism or not he deserves to be locked away, either mentally unsafe or a complete idiot. Either way he deserves to be punished for being such a Muppet.
 
Article in op got updated:

An incident on an airliner arriving in the US city of Detroit from Amsterdam in the Netherlands was a failed bomb attack, senior US officials say.

Sources say a man injured himself trying to ignite an explosive device on the jet with 278 passengers on board but nobody else was seriously hurt.

In custody, the suspect said he had been acting on behalf of al-Qaeda, a police source told AP news agency.

President Barack Obama has ordered increased security for air travel.


US and Dutch media report that the suspect is a Nigerian national studying in London.

Northwest Airlines Flight 253 had been coming in to land at Detroit Metropolitan Airport on Friday afternoon when the incident occurred.

Reports quote officials as saying the suspect seems to have tried to ignite some kind of incendiary device.

Another passenger, Syed Jafri, told AP he had been seated three rows behind the suspect and had seen a glow and noticed a smoke smell.

Then, he said, "a young man behind me jumped on him".

"Next thing you know, there was a lot of panic," Mr Jafri added.

As the suspect was being tackled, he was reportedly shouting and a passenger said she had heard the word "Afghanistan".

'Taped to his leg'

Another unnamed passenger heard a "little pop", then saw "a bit of a smoke and then some flames".



A robot could be seen examining the plane with an official nearby
After "yelling and screaming", the passenger added, "they took him out and it was really quick".

The suspect later told the US authorities he had had explosive powder taped to his leg and used a syringe of chemicals to mix with the powder that was to cause explosion, the ABC television network reports.

Another US intelligence official quoted by AP said an explosive device had been used consisting of a "mix of powder and liquid".

Peter King, who sits on the US House of Representatives Homeland Security Committee, reported details of the incident in interviews for US TV channels.



"He [the suspect] has third-degree burns," he said.

Mr King, a New York Republican, said the suspect appeared to have "al-Qaeda connections, certainly extremist terrorist connections".

The FBI and the Federal Aviation Administration are investigating, and a robot was used to check the plane at one stage.

At least one passenger was taken to the University of Michigan Medical Center in Ann Arbor.
Click to expand...
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top Bottom