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| More on the Al Q. Airplane Attacker | ||
| 2009-12-26 | ||
The man said he was directed by al Qaeda to explode a small device in flight, over U.S. soil, ABC News has learned. Authorities have no corroboration of that information, and the credibility of the suspect's statements are being questioned, officials said. The suspect was identified as Abdul Farouk Abdulmutallab, 23, who according to federal documents is an engineering student at University College of London. He was flying from Nigeria to the United States for a religious ceremony, according to his entry visa, which was issued June 16, 2008 and was good until June 12, 2010.
The subject is claiming to have extremist affiliation and that the device was acquired in Yemen along with instructions as to when it should be used," a federal situational awareness bulletin stated. Delta spokeswoman Susan Chana Elliott said that "as the plane was getting ready to land" in Detroit "a passenger caused a disturbance" by trying to ignite what was initially reported to be firecrackers. The man was "subdued immediately," Elliott said. Northwest is a wholly owned subsidiary of Delta. The suspect told authorities that he had explosive powder taped to his leg and used a syringe of chemicals to mix with the powder that was to cause explosion. This is of concert because it is a method of mixing that is consistent with terror techniques. An in-flight emergency was declared when a fire indicator light when on in the cockpit, according to the Federal Aviation Administration. The pilot asked for airport rescue and firefighting services, and for law enforcement to meet the flight at gate, the TSA said. It is unclear how powerful the explosive could have been and what the man's intentions were. Initial reports were that fireworks or firecrackers had gone off on the plane. TSA has a layered approach to security that the agency says allows it to surge resources as needed on a daily basis. It would not give specifics except that it has the ability to quickly implement additional screening measures including explosive detection canine teams, gate screening, behavior detection and other measures "both seen and unseen." The TSA said these measures are designed to be unpredictable, so passenger should not expect to see the same thing at every airport. | ||
| Posted by: |
| #4 Come to consecrate the 241,209th most holy site in all Islam? Would that be Detroit or Dearborn or Hamtramck? There was a time these guys got hung or shot fairly quickly. Now we have to wade with hip boots through the legal maze of courts and attorneys and political correctness. Well maybe it wasn't so recently--WWII era. |
| Posted by: JohnQC 2009-12-26 19:57 |
| #3 PETN according to officials, who also suggested this was a dry run / experiment to see if the chemicals would be detected and how much damage might be done. |
| Posted by: lotp 2009-12-26 15:15 |
| #2 Anyone have any idea what kind of explosives might be at work here (combo powder + liquid)? |
| Posted by: Grampaw Clomoting7313 2009-12-26 14:44 |
| #1 He intended mass murder, hang his ass. |
| Posted by: Redneck Jim 2009-12-26 10:47 |