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More about the Al Qaeda airplane exploder
| It was the passengers that subdued him. A pack, indeed. Hattip DrudgeReport. |
A Northwest Airlines passenger from Nigeria, who said he was acting on al-Qaida's instructions, tried to blow up the plane today as it was landing in Detroit, law enforcement and national security officials said. Passengers subdued the man and may have prevented him from detonating the explosives, the officials said.
A White House official said the incident was an attempted act of terrorism.
| OMG -- they used the T word! |
Federal officials imposed stricter screening measures after the incident.
There were 278 passengers aboard the Airbus 330. There was nothing out of the ordinary until the flight was on final approach to Detroit, said Federal Aviation Administration spokeswoman Elizabeth Isham Cory. That is when the pilot declared an emergency and landed without incident shortly thereafter, Cory said in an e-mail message. The plane landed at 11:51 a.m.
One of the U.S. intelligence officials said the explosive device was a mix of powder and liquid. It failed when the passenger tried to detonate it.
The passenger created a disturbance by lighting what was reported to be firecrackers -- or perhaps a "powdery substance" -- onboard the flight, injuring himself and several other passengers, according to Delta Airlines.
The man was apparently already on the government's no-fly list of suspected terrorists, ABC News said a senior intelligence official told them.
| That clearly worked well. |
| That report is disputed in other accounts -- those say that the man was in some database but was not on the no-fly list. 48 hour rule applies here. |
President Barack Obama was notified of the incident and discussed it with security officials, the White House said. It said he is monitoring the situation and receiving regular updates from his vacation spot in Hawaii.
| So much for relaxing with the family away from the office. |
| That's what happens when you're president ... |
| Not just presidents, either. But Mrs. Obama couldn't have expected otherwise when her husband refused to give up his Blackberry. |
One passenger from the flight was taken to the University of Michigan Medical Center in Ann Arbor, hospital spokeswoman Tracy Justice said. She would not say what the injuries were.
| Hopefully just nerves instead of harm during the incident. |
Because Delta Airlines in Detroit did not handle security for the flight, Elliott said she could not answer how the items that were ignited got on the plane.
| Oh goody. Now all through passengers will have to get off and go through security at the way station instead of just waiting for the plane to be ready to continue on. However, given the security at places like Nigeria or Greece, it's long overdue. |
She said Delta has a hub in Amsterdam and this one was among several flights today.
Security precautions raised in wake of attempted attack
The Homeland Security Department said passengers may see additional screening measures on domestic and international flights because of the incident. "We encourage those with future travel plans to stay in touch with their airline and to visit www.tsa.gov for updates," the department said.
| Get there three hours ahead of flight time instead of two hours? |
Posted by: 2009-12-26 |
