I have family in Boston, where this plane made an emergency landing. Apparently some man had explosives in his shoes and tried to light it mid-flight... the attendant asked him what he was doing, then screamed for help. Passengers jumped him and strapped him in .... no idea how accurate that part of it is. I see a newsflash on CNN about it...
MSNBC has the story: http://www.msnbc.com/news/676895.asp <font face="arial" size="3" color="#cc0000"><B>Plane lands after explosives threat</B></font> BOSTON, Dec. 22 — A passenger on a jetliner bound from Paris to Miami tried to ignite an “improvised explosive" in his shoe, but the crew and fellow passengers subdued him, authorities said. The plane, escorted by military jets, landed safely in Boston. THE SUSPECT, IDENTIFIED as Richard Reid, was taken into custody by the FBI. Officials said he was traveling on a British passport. "I'm told the flight attendant was drawn to him by the smell of sulfur from a lit match, and then challenged him as to what he was doing," said Thomas Kinton, interim executive director of the Massachusetts Port Authority, or Massport, which runs Logan International Airport. A flight attendant intervened after the man tried to light his shoe on fire, and the 6-foot-4 suspect resisted and bit her, Massport spokeswoman Laura White said. Kinton said at a news conference that the jet's crew prevented "something serious" from taking place. He said it "tackled" the passenger, though "the flight attendants were hurt during this, and yelled for help from other passengers and received that help from other passengers on board the aircraft." Passengers subdued him, belting him into his seat. Two doctors used the airplane's onboard medical kit to sedate him, and the man's shoe, which had protruding wires, was removed. The flight, identified as American Flight 63, landed in Boston at 12:50 p.m. with police, fire and bomb squads standing by. "They X-rayed the shoe and found that in the heel, there were holes drilled, and there looked to be a detonator wire, and the substances consistent with (the explosive) C-4," White said. The shoe was taken from the plane, rendered harmless and taken to an FBI laboratory for analysis, White said C-4, a powerful plastic explosive, is primarily used by the military. Usually sold in clay-like bars, It is often lightly colored and appears like a putty, making it easy to mold into almost any shape. When ignited, it releases a powerful blast. White said Reid's passport, issued in Belgium three weeks ago, was "questionable." He boarded the plane without luggage or additional identification. Federal officials believed the passport "looks bogus," Kinton said. The suspect appeared to be of Middle Eastern descent, officials said, though his real name and background did not appear to be available yet. An FBI spokesperson confirmed to NBC News that it was working with the Massachusetts state police to investigate. Reid was being interrogated at the airport by the FBI. The other passengers were also being questioned, White said. The FBI's Kim McAllister confirmed that one man was being held in FBI custody for "interference with a flight crew," but had not been arrested. The intervention on the flight "appeared to have prevented something very serious from occurring," Kinton said. A spokeswoman for Britain's Foreign Office, speaking on customary condition of anonymity, said, "We are seeking normal consular access as we would with any U.K. citizen." <strong>FIGHTER JETS SCRAMBLED</strong> WHDH-TV in Boston reported that officials at Logan received a call just before 11 a.m. ET Saturday that the flight was being escorted there and would be arriving in approximately two hours. Flight 63 was carrying 85 passengers and 12 crew members, one aviation source told NBC News. Two F-15 fighter jets escorted it to the ground in Boston. A representative for the North American Aerospace Defense Command, or NORAD, confirmed that jets were scrambled after the Federal Aviation Administration requested an escort. NORAD keeps jets on patrol over Boston at certain times; it keeps jets over New York and Washington at all times. Flight 63 flies direct from Paris' Charles De Gaulle Airport to Miami.
Glad to see the crew and passengers take this b*stard down. We don't play around anymore. Anyone know what you get charged with for that kind of crap??
THE FACE OF FAILED TERRORISM from the looks of his mug, the passengers on board did a pretty damn good job of subduing him. Since he bites, I'm surprised they don't have him in a Hannibal type face mask. The people on FLT 63 are heroes! They deserve some sort of civilian commendation. That freak better be prosecuted to the fullest extent of all applicable laws!! rH
This guy is the Maxwell Smart of Al Queda. "Would you believe..." They should have thrown his ass out of the plane right before landing, that way there wouldn't be any decompression problems.
Wow...he doesn't look evil. Oh, you mean the guy on the RIGHT side of the photo. Yet another dumb terrorist. The account I heard said the flight attendant smelled the sulpher odor of the match and that was what alerted her. Guess the guy couldn't afford a lighter. OS
I know this opinion may be unpopular, but this is a case where racial profiling should have been implemented. A young Middle Eastern man with who speaks with an accent, yet has a British passport with an English surname should have been stopped and searched with help from chemical analysis or a bomb sniffing dog.
Thank God this guy proved to be an incompetent terrorist. An article in the paper today noted that the C-4 explosive substance in his shoe probably could not have exploded with a simple fuse. He would have needed some kind of smaller blast to make it effective. Just the same, that flight attendant and the passengers who aided her should be given some kind of commendation.
