It is Christmas Day, and hardly a day one would normally associate with fear, but passengers on Northwest Airlines Flight 253 would disagree. A Nigerian national, Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab, 23, tried to light a device during the plane’s descent into Detroit Metropolitan Wayne County Airport.
Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab has claimed that he was working with al Qaida, and that he was directed by al Qaida to explode a small device in flight, over U.S. soil. He had originally been identified as Abdul Mudallad.
At least one flight 253 passenger helped subdue Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab (or Abdul Mudallad), along with the flight crew, when they noticed him trying to ignite “some kind of incendiary device” in a bag strapped to his body. Officials told NBC station WDIV-TV of Detroit that the device was a mixture of powder and liquid.
Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab (or Abdul Mudallad) was injured, with his hands burned. He has been taken to the burn unit of the University of Michigan Medical Center in Ann Arbor. To this point, no other members of flight 253 have been listed as injured. The White House has called the incident an act of terrorism.
Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab (or Abdul Mudallad) left Lagos, Nigeria, on Thursday and boarded flight 253 in Amsterdam on Friday. He was traveling one way, without a return ticket.
The timing of the attempted flight 253 attack could be significant. This is the same day that the Taliban released a video of a U.S. soldier it is holding captive in Afghanistan. Additionally, eight years ago, on Dec. 22nd, 2001, Richard Reid, a British member of al-Qaida, tried to blow up a flight from Paris to Miami by igniting explosives in his shoes.
Rep. Peter King of New York, the senior Republican on the House Homeland Security Committee, who was briefed on the incident, said Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab (or Abdul Mudallad) was known in federal counterterrorism files. He added that the flight 253 incident raised questions about airline security. “It must be looked into” how Abdulmutallab could sneak a “somewhat sophisticated device” on board, he said.
Of course, what is unfortunate is that if there was a security lapse, it was in Amsterdam, not in the U.S. It will be more difficult for the U.S. to uncover the lapses involved, and to correct them, as they are not even anything associated with our federal government or TSA.
President Barack Obama, vacationing in Hawaii with his family, was briefed soon after the incident. He convened several high-level conference calls after the flight 253 event, and as such, it has been indicated that airport security will be increased, but the increase was not specified. What was said is that travelers should expect additional delays, a White House spokesman said.
Written by Michael Santo
HULIQ.com
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