An attempted terrorist attack on a Christmas Day flight began with a pop and a puff of smoke — sending passengers scrambling to subdue a Nigerian man who claimed to be acting on orders from al-Qaeda to blow up the airliner, officials and travelers said.
The commotion began as Northwest Airlines Flight 253, carrying 278 passengers and 11 crew members from Amsterdam, prepared to land in Detroit just before noon on Friday.
“It sounded like a firecracker in a pillowcase,” said Peter Smith, a passenger from the Netherlands. “First there was a pop, and then [there] was smoke.”
PHOTO: CHU PEI-HSIUNG, TAIPEI TIMES
Smith said one passenger climbed over other people, went across the aisle and tried to restrain the man, who officials say was trying to ignite an explosive device. The heroic passenger appeared to have been burned.
Afterward, the suspect was taken to a front-row seat with his pants cut off and his legs burned. Law enforcement officials also said the man appeared badly burned on his legs, indicating the explosive had been strapped there. The components were apparently mixed in-flight and included a powdery substance, law enforcement and counterterrorism officials said.
The White House said it believed it was an attempted act of terrorism and stricter security measures were quickly imposed on airline travel. The incident was reminiscent of Richard Reid, who tried to destroy a trans-Atlantic flight in 2001 with explosives hidden in his shoes, but was subdued by other passengers.
NIGERIAN SUSPECT
Law enforcement officials identified the suspect in Friday’s attempted attack as Nigerian citizen Umar Farouk Abdul Mutallab.
One law enforcement official said the man claimed to have been instructed by al-Qaeda to detonate the plane over US soil, but other law enforcement officials cautioned that such claims could not be verified immediately, and said the man may have been acting independently — inspired, but not specifically trained or ordered by terror groups.
All the officials spoke on condition of anonymity because the investigation was continuing.
The man was being questioned on Friday evening. An intelligence official said he was being held and treated in an Ann Arbor, Michigan, hospital. The hospital said one passenger from the flight was taken to the University of Michigan Medical Center in Ann Arbor, but referred all inquiries to the FBI.
Melinda Dennis, who was seated in the front row of the plane, said the man involved was brought to the front row and seated near her. She said his legs appeared to be badly burned and his pants were cut off. She said he was taken off the plane handcuffed to a stretcher.
One law enforcement official, also speaking on condition of anonymity, said Mutallab’s name had surfaced earlier on at least one US intelligence database, but he was not on a watch list or a no-fly list.
The flight began in Nigeria and went through Amsterdam en route to Detroit, said Peter King, the ranking Republican member of the House Homeland Security Committee.
A spokeswoman for police at Schiphol airport in Amsterdam declined to comment on the case or about security procedures at the airport for Flight 253.
Schiphol airport, one of Europe’s busiest with a heavy load of transit passengers from Africa and Asia to North America, strictly enforces European security regulations, including only allowing small amounts of liquid in hand luggage that must be placed inside clear plastic bags. After the attempted attack, passengers to the US were being frisked at the gate as an added security measure, airport spokeswoman Mirjam Snoerwang said.
A spokesman for the Federal Airports Authority of Nigeria, Akin Olukunle, said all passengers and their luggage are screened before boarding international flights. He also said the airport in Lagos passed a US Transportation Security Administration audit last month.
“We had a pass mark,” Olukunle said. “We actually are up to standards in all senses.”
Federal officials said there would be heightened security for both domestic and international flights at airports across the country, but the intensified levels would likely be “layered,” differing from location to location depending on alerts, security concerns and other factors.
Passengers can expect to see heightened screening, more bomb-sniffing dog and officer units, and behavioral-detection specialists at some airports, but there will also be unspecified less visible precautions as well, officials said.
The FBI and the Homeland Security Department issued an intelligence note on Nov. 20 about the threat picture for the holiday season. At the time, officials said they had no specific information about attack plans by al-Qaeda or other terrorist groups.
US President Barack Obama was notified of the incident and discussed it with security officials, the White House said. Officials said he is monitoring the situation and receiving regular updates from his vacation spot in Hawaii.
TAIWAN SECURITY
Sydney Airport and Taiwan terminals stepped up security on flights headed for the US after yesterday’s suspected terrorist attack on the Detroit-bound flight.
Travelers leaving Sydney on flights to the US will undergo more stringent body and luggage checks at the request of US authorities, an airport spokesman said by telephone.
“All passengers on flights to the US will undergo pat-down checks and additional checks on carry-on baggage,” said Michael Samaras, manager for media and communications at the airport.
Previously passengers on US flights were subject to continuous random checks, he said.
Taiwan also imposed an additional security check of passengers and carry-on items at boarding gates for US flights from the nation’s international airports, said Liu Chang-hui (劉昌輝), spokesman for the Aviation Police Office.
Narita International Airport Corp, operator of Japan’s busiest international airport near Tokyo, has not stepped up security measures, Masaharu Watanabe, a spokesman for the airport said. Kansai International Airport, Japan’s second-busiest international gateway, also had not strengthened security measures, said Chika Sakamoto, a spokeswoman for the airport.
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