American Airlines flight 63 from Paris to Miami made an emergency landing in Boston after a passenger attempted to ignite his shoes, which authorities said contained some sort of explosive. The incident began when a flight attendant smelled sulfur and asked the man what he was doing. He said he was 'wired.' Passengers and flight attendants tackled the man, and two doctors who were among the passengers sedated him. The man was then strapped to a chair with belts. During the melee, two flight attendants were injured -- one of them bitten by the man. The flight attendant was taken to a hospital, she said. The Boeing 767, carrying 185 passengers and 12 crew members, landed safely at Logan airport, escorted by two F-15 fighter jets. It was moved to a remote area of the runway. The man, about 28, was carrying a British passport that appeared to have been issued about three weeks ago in Belgium, and identified him as Richard Reid. He was traveling alone and had no checked luggage. Police took him into custody. Once he was removed, his shoes were X-rayed aboard the plane by a bomb squad. "They appeared to have wires and other things contained in them," a spokesman said, identifying the material as a detonation cord and some kind of explosives. The shoes were then taken to a field and "disrupted." Reuters reports "Reid" appeared to be an Arab traveling on a false passport. U.S. Immigration and Naturalization officials believed the man's British passport, issued three weeks ago in Belgium in the name of Richard Reid, was bogus. MSNBC says the shoe was full of C4, a moldable military plastic explosive.
Someone must take it upon himself or herself to hit Mr. "Reid" very many times, while asking him some very detailed questions. The system would appear to be working, as he was subdued by the passengers and crew and there was a military escort just in case he did something rash. Funny shoes now have to be added to the terrorist "profile." Platform shoes would seem to have just gone out of fashion, at least on airlines. Never liked them anyway - looked like orthopaedic shoes, for people with both legs longer than the other. Sure will be interesting to see where "Reid" is really from - and who are his controllers. Still, it's an indication someone's still trying to conduct terror ops. Wonder what the significance is of the passport coming from Belgium - where Masood's assassin's passport came from. We can guess at the significance of an exploding airplane today, the day Karzai's inaugurated. And normal civvies like you and me don't have access to C4. It would also appear the networks have declared war on American Airlines. (Time to relook Flight 587.) If anyone's been feeling merciful toward the Bad Guys, you can stop now. |