Detroit, MI – A 23-year-old Nigerian man who claimed to have ties to al-Qaida was charged Saturday with trying to destroy a Detroit-bound airliner on Christmas Day, as authorities around the world urgently sought to learn more about him.
Subscribe to our Daily Roundup Email
The Justice Department charged that Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab had a device containing a high explosive attached to his body. An affidavit with the indictment said that as Northwest Flight 253 descended toward Detroit Metropolitan Airport, Abdulmutallab set off the device — sparking a fire instead of an explosion.
According to the affidavit filed in U.S. District Court in Detroit, a preliminary analysis of the device showed it contained PETN, also known as pentaerythritol.
The government alleged that Abdulmutallab told passengers that his stomach was upset, then pulled a blanket over himself. Passengers then heard popping noises.
Abdulmutallab, who had a valid U.S. visa, was in a terrorism database but not on a no-fly list. He lived in a posh London neighborhood, but a law enforcement official said the suspect acknowledged he received training and instructions from al-Qaida operatives in Yemen.
President Barack Obama, on vacation in Hawaii, was briefed about developments in the attack. National Security Council chief of staff Denis McDonough was holed up in a secure hotel room in Hawaii to receive briefings, and other traveling presidential aides were kept shut away to monitor new information.
Abdulmutallab appeared on the Terrorist Identities Datamart Environment database maintained by the U.S. National Counterterrorism Center, said a U.S. official who received a briefing. Containing some 550,000 names, the database includes people with known or suspected ties to a terrorist organization. However, it is not a list that would prohibit a person from boarding a U.S.-bound airplane.
Rep. Peter King, R-N.Y., ranking Republican on the House Homeland Security Committee, said Abdulmutallab was not on the no-fly list.
A search was conducted Saturday at an apartment building in a posh West London neighborhood where the suspect is said to have lived.
University College London issued a statement saying a student named Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab studied mechanical engineering there between September 2005 and June 2008. But the college said it wasn’t certain the student was the same person who was on the plane.
How does one get to carry fireworks onto a plane?
Verry disturbing
And does anyone think that’s unusual for the D?
Though the firecrackers and gunshots are generally for 12/31-1/1 overnight period but hey Detroit never made much anyway
One question: How is it possible in this day and age for airport security personnel to let a passenger on a plane with firecrackers? How??? Somebody needs to lose their job.
Great job that the passengers subdued him . I think they should of killed him on board. They say he was burned on his legs. Hes in a hospital getting 5 star treatment. They should of killed him on board. Very scary that with all the security he managed to get a fire going and almost took down the plane.
i just flew to los angeles from ny and carried a 6 inch knife in my carry on! my buddy had a lighter in his carry on! TSA is a complete joke!
Where do you all get firecrackers or fireworks from????
Read the article it says it was a high explosive and it says they have already identified it as PETN.
It says online that PETN is one of “the MOST POWERFUL HIGH EXPLOSIVES KNOWN”
Pentaerythritol tetranitrate (PETN, also known as corpent, pentrite, or rarely and primarily in German as nitropenta or pentrit)[1], is one of the most powerful high explosives known, with a relative effectiveness factor (R.E. factor) of 1.66.
So please don’t refer to it as fireworks or firecrackers. This was a super powerful bomb.
So much so for abamas end to the war on terror, I for one am afraid dick cheny will be proven to be right C”V
Because the Fbi is busy with sting operations and news conferences only, Let them get to work.
Why isn’t this man being charged as an enemy combatant? It was in an area before passing border/ customs?