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Northwest Airlines Flight 253
A Northwest Airbus A330 in Delta livery, similar to the one involved in the incident aboard flight 253
Location	Romulus, Michigan, United States
Coordinates	42°12′29″N 83°21′22″W / 42.208°N 83.356°W / 42.208; -83.356
Date	Friday, December 25, 2009 approximately 12:30 p.m. (UTC-5)
Attack type	Failed bombing or arson
Weapons	Pentaerythritol tetranitrate
Deaths	0
Injured	3

Northwest Airlines Flight 253 is a transatlantic flight to Detroit, Michigan, United States, from Schiphol Airport, Amsterdam, the Netherlands, and was the target of an attempted terrorist attack on December 25, 2009. Three people, including the suspected attacker, were wounded. Umar Farouk Abdulmuttalab, the suspect, was taken into custody, treated for his injuries, and charged the following day by an agent of the United States Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) with attempting to destroy an aircraft and bringing aboard a destructive device.

Incident

The aircraft involved was a Northwest Airlines Airbus A330-300 twinjet, with 278 passengers, 8 flight attendants, and 3 pilots aboard. It left Amsterdam around 8:45 a.m. local time (0745 UTC), and was scheduled to arrive in Detroit at 11:40 a.m. EST (1640 UTC) but actually did so around 1 p.m. (first misreported as noon). The aircraft was painted in Delta Air Lines' livery as Northwest is currently operating as a wholly-owned subsidiary of Delta; a complete integration of the carriers is underway.

Witnesses reported that after the plane entered US airspace, a passenger later identified as Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab, a 23-year-old Nigerian man, went into the plane's lavatory for about 20 minutes, and after returning to his seat at 19A complained that he felt sick. He was then seen pulling a blanket over himself. About 20 minutes before the plane landed, he secretly ignited a small explosive device consisting of a mix of flammable powder and liquid (originally reported to be firecrackers). The suspect apparently had taped a packet of powder to his leg or groin, and used a syringe containing chemicals to cause a chemical reaction, and though the lower part of his body caught on fire, the device failed to detonate properly. A passenger said that "there was smoke and screaming and flames. It was scary." It is now believed that substance used was pentaerythritol tetranitrate (PETN), a highly explosive chemical. The suspect apparently carried it onto the plane in a soft plastic container, possibly a condom. However, much of the packaging was lost in the fire. The substance was analyzed at Quantico by the FBI. An affidavit filed in the Eastern District of Michigan indicated that preliminary findings of the device reflected that it contained PETN, and that authorities found the remains of a syringe believed to have been used by the terrorist.

Although no federal air marshals were on the plane, several passengers and crew members noticed the attack, and witnesses saw one passenger run forward, and tackle and overpower the suspect, while the crew extinguished the fire with a fire extinguisher. That passenger, Jasper Schuringa, a Dutch director of a media company based in Amsterdam, suffered burns to his hands while stopping the attacker. He was later taken to the University of Michigan Medical Center. The suspect was immediately subdued, isolated from other passengers, and restrained. A passenger reported that the suspect, though burned "quite severely" on his leg, seemed "very calm" and like a "normal individual."

When the attack triggered a fire indicator light within the cockpit, the pilot requested rescue and law enforcement. The incident was initially declared an in-flight emergency, before being deemed an attempted terrorist attack. The plane made an emergency landing at Detroit Metropolitan Wayne County Airport, Romulus, Michigan (a suburb of Detroit) just before 1 p.m. local time.

Reaction and investigation

Agents from the FBI arrived at the airport after the plane landed, and passengers were diverted into a holding area.

While the plane itself suffered relatively little damage, the suspect suffered third-degree burns and two other passengers were injured. The suspect was handed over to authorities when the plane landed, and taken into custody for questioning and treatment of his injuries in a secured room of the burn unit of the University of Michigan Medical Center in Ann Arbor. Two other passengers received minor injuries. The plane was moved into a remote area so authorities could re-screen the plane, the passengers, and the baggage on-board. A bomb-defusing robot was first used to board the plane. In addition, the Transportation Security Administration (TSA) interviewed all passengers before letting them leave.

The investigation into the incident is being managed by the FBI. It is not known how the suspect managed to smuggle the incendiary device past airport security, and what training he received, if any. There are conflicting reports as to whether the suspect was acting alone or was linked to al-Qaeda; an investigation has been initiated into whether the attempted attack was part of a larger, possibly worldwide plot.

President Barack Obama was notified of the incident by an aide while on a vacation in Kailua, Hawaii, and spoke with officials from the Department of Homeland Security. The White House said that Obama was actively monitoring the situation, and had instructed that all appropriate measures be taken regarding the attack. Secretary of Homeland Security Janet Napolitano was also briefed, and was monitoring the incident. The White House called the attack an act of terrorism. However, Attorney General Eric Holder has not declared the incident an official terrorist act. The day after the attack, members of the U.S. Congress pledged to hold hearings to investigate how the device passed through security and whether further restrictions should be placed on air travel. The House Homeland Security Committee and Senate Commerce, Science and Transportation Committee both announced that is would hold the hearings in January 2010.

British Prime Minister Gordon Brown said that the UK would take "whatever action was necessary" in response to the attacks. The day after the incident, British police sealed off Mansfield Street, in Marylebone, London, where the suspect allegedly lived in a family-owned basement flat.

The incident raised concern regarding security procedures at Nigeria's major international airports in Lagos and Abuja, where tests for explosive materials are not conducted on carry-on baggage and shoes, and where bags are allowed to pass quickly through x-ray scanners.

A police spokeswoman based at Amsterdam Airport Schiphol declined to comment about security procedures at Amsterdam Airport, where large numbers of passengers are processed en-route to North America from Africa. However, another airport spokesperson said it was likely that the suspect was screened in Amsterdam, as all passengers transferring from international flights are required to be there. A Dutch military police spokesperson said that Abdulmutallab did not go through passport control, and the Dutch counter-terrorism agency NCTb said that it had started a probe into where the suspect originated. A preliminary investigation, however, found no security lapses, and despite being listed as having a potential terrorism connection, the suspect had a valid U.S. visa.

Delta Air Lines, which owns Northwest, said that its Detroit group did not handle the security for the flight and released a statement calling the incident a "disturbance," and saying that Delta was "cooperating fully with authorities".

Criminal complaint and charges

On December 26, a criminal complaint against Abdulmutallab was filed in the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Michigan by Theodore James Peissig, an FBI special agent, charging him with an attempt to destroy an aircraft and with placing a destructive device in proximity to an aircraft. The U.S. Attorney's office assigned federal prosecutors Jonathan Tukel, chief of the counter-terrorism unit, and Eric Straus, former chief of the same unit, to the case. He was arraigned later the same day at the University of Michigan Hospital burn unit. Abdulmutallab was officially charged by U.S. District Judge Paul D. Borman in a conference room within the hospital. Based upon these charges, Borman, who signed the complaint, said he faced up to 20 years in prison and a $250,000 fine. Borman also said that Abdulmutallab would be assigned a public defender and set a detention hearing for January 8, 2010.

Effect on travelers

The government did not raise the terrorist threat level, orange at the time, immediately following the attack. However, the Department of Homeland Security said that additional security measures would be in place for the remainder of the Christmas travel period. The TSA posted a statement detailing several of the measures, including the restriction of movement and access of personal items during the last hour of flight for all planes within U.S. airspace. British Airways said that passengers flying to the U.S. would only be permitted one carry-on item. The TSA also said that travelers would see more officers and dogs around airports. Other European countries increased baggage screening, pat-down searches, and random searches for all passengers traveling to the U.S. A spokesperson for the Dutch airport used by the attacker said that heightened security would be in place for "an indefinite period".

Perpetrator

The suspect, who arrived in Amsterdam on KLM flight 588, a Boeing 777, from Lagos, Nigeria, was later identified as 23-year-old Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab, a Nigerian national and former mechanical engineering student at University College London. The university confirmed that a man named Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab studied there from September 2005 to June 2008. but could not confirm whether he was the same man as the attacker. His last known address is believed to be a $4 million apartment on Mansfield Street, Central London near the college, which was searched by Scotland Yard and London Metropolitan Police.

The suspect was later found to be the son of prominent former Nigerian minister and banker Alhaji Umaru Mutallab who had made a report to the U.S. Embassy six months earlier regarding his son's extremist religious views. It is believed that the suspect had such views since he attended high school, at the British International School in Lome, Togo.

Abdulmutallab had paid $2,831 in cash for a round-trip ticket. King said that the suspect's name appeared in intelligence terror watch list databases maintained by other countries, but did not appear in U.S. terror watch lists, and that he appeared to have an extremist connection It was later found that the suspect did indeed exist in the Terrorist Identities Datamart Environment, a database of the U.S. National Counterterrorism Center, but was not on any no-fly list. King also said that the explosive device was deadly, and somewhat sophisticated. Another official later said that the suspect had been in a list of people with suspected terrorist ties for at least two years.

The suspect claimed to have made contact with al-Qaeda through the Internet, with a radical imam. The explosives were supposedly sewn into the suspect's underwear, but failed to cause much damage, because the detonator was either too weak or did not make good contact with the explosive material. A Congressional official later said that Abdulmutllab's name appeared in U.S. reports as having connections to both al-Qaeda and Yemen.

The day following the incident, another passenger at Schiphol claimed to have seen a well-dressed man ask airline employees if Abdulmutallab could board the plane without a passport. However, Abdulmutallab did have a valid visa and the passenger's claims had not been verified.

Possible motives

While in custody, Abdulmutallab told authorities he had an extremist affiliation, and said he was directed by al-Qaeda. A counterterrorism official told The New York Times that his claim "may have been aspirational". He said that the device was obtained in Yemen, along with instructions from al-Qaeda as to how to use it. Authorities have not yet confirmed his statements. His father also said that he may have gone to Yemen, but he was unsure as well.

The motive for the attack was unclear. However, the attack occurred on Christmas Day and was near the date of the eighth anniversary of Richard Reid's attempt to blow up a plane using explosives hidden in his shoe. The Taliban also released a video of Bowe Bergdahl, a captured U.S. soldier, on the day of the attack.

The senior Republican on the House Intelligence Committee, Representative Pete Hoekstra, said officials in the Obama administration and officials with law-enforcement information access told him the suspect may have had contact with Anwar Al Awlaki; al-Awlaki is the former imam linked to al-Qaeda, three of the 9/11 bombers, and Nidal Hasan, the suspected Fort Hood shooter, among others. Hoekstra said: “The question we'll have to raise is was this imam in Yemen influential enough to get some people to attack the US again." Hoekstra said in an interview: “The suspicion is also that” the suspect “had contact with al-Awlaki. The belief is this is a stronger connection with al-Awlaki” than Hasan had. According to The New York Times and contrary to other reports, Abdulmutallab is not believed to have contacted al-Awlaki.

The target of the attack may not have specifically been Detroit, but a destination similar to Detroit (which is a hub of Delta), with many incoming international travelers.The attack occurred over the city because the plane had not flown over U.S. land prior to the landing. In addition, an attack of this type (injecting chemicals into a substance to provoke a chemical explosion) has not been used in previous terrorist plots, and it is possible that the attempt was a test to see if such materials could pass through screening and how much damage the resulting blast would cause.

See also

• 2001 shoe bomb plot
• List of accidents and incidents on commercial airliners
• List of terrorist incidents, 2009

References

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External links

• Delta Air Lines Issues Statement on Northwest Flight 253—Delta Air Lines
• Statement by Department of Homeland Security Press Secretary Sara Kuban—Dept. of Homeland Security Press Release, Dec. 25, 2009
• Complaint affidavit for United States of America v. Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab

• Current events from December 2009
• Aviation accidents and incidents in the United States in 2009
• Delta Air Lines flights
• Terrorist incidents in 2009
• Terrorist incidents in the United States
• Failed airliner bombings
• Accidents and incidents on commercial airliners in the United States
• Accidents and incidents involving the Airbus A330
• Suicide bombings in the United States