Passenger Ignites Explosive on Delta Flight, Al Qaeda Connection Reported

Passenger Ignites Explosive on Delta Flight, Al Qaeda Connection Reported
FOX News
A male passenger reportedly linked to terrorist organization al-Qaeda ignited a powdery substance prior to landing on a Delta Airlines flight to Detroit Friday. The suspect is believed to be Nigerian, Fox News reported.
Several people were hurt and one person was admitted to the University of Michigan Medical Center at Ann Arbor, hospital spokeswoman Tracy Justice said. An emergency was declared aboard the flight, operated as Northwest flight 253, according to a Federal Aviation Administration spokesperson.
The suspect, who suffered second-degree burns, told federal investigators he was directed by al-Qaeda, though authorities are questioning the veracity of that statement, ABC reported. A federal situational awareness bulletin noted that the explosive was acquired in Yemen with instructions as to when it should be used, ABC said.
The FBI was on the scene, Detroit office spokeswoman Sandra Berchtold told NewsCore. Berchtold declined to comment on the reports of a terrorist connection.
All 278 passengers on the Airbus A330 wide-body jet, which landed at 11:53 a.m. local time, have since deplaned at Detroit Metropolitan Wayne County Airport, Delta spokesperson Susan Elliott said.
“Out of an abundance of caution, the plane was moved to a remote area where the plane and all baggage are currently being rescreened. A passenger is in custody and passengers are being interviewed,” the Transportation Security Administration said in a statement.
It was not immediately clear if the suspect was subdued by crew or passengers.
Airport spokesman Mike Conway referred all questions to the FBI.

Possible terror attack on Northwest jet (Subdued by flight crew and passengers)
Nigerian man tries to light powdery substance on Detroit flight, officials say
A 23-year-old Nigerian man tried to light a powdery substance aboard a Northwest Airlines flight before landing in Detroit on Friday, a senior U.S. counterterrorism official told NBC News.
Two people noticed the attempt and a third person jumped on the man and subdued him, an airline official told NBC News.
The man is being treated at the burn unit of the University of Michigan Medical Center in Ann Arbor, officials said.
The man told investigators that he wanted to set off a bomb over the United States, and the incident is being handled as a possibile terrorism attack by both law enforcement and intelligence agencies, senior counterterrorism officials said.

Update:
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 man was apparently already on the government’s no-fly list of suspected terrorists, according to a senior intelligence official.

“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.

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UPDATE:
Rep. Peter King, R-N.Y., identified the suspect as Abdul Mudallad. King said the flight began in Nigeria and went through Amsterdam en route to Detroit.
One of the U.S. intelligence officials said the explosive device was a mix of powder and liquid. It failed when the passenger tried to detonate it.
The passenger was being questioned Friday evening. “He appears to have had some kind of incendiary device he tried to ignite,” said one of the U.S. officials.
Authorities initially believed the passenger had set off firecrackers that caused some minor injuries.
An FBI spokeswoman in Detroit said the incident is being investigated. It came just as the flight, an Airbus 330 carrying 278 passengers, was arriving in Detroit from Amsterdam. “Next thing you know, there was a lot of panic,” he said.

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Wild Thing’s comment………
I posted the two news stories because there are some differences as there are a lot of the time in information.
Most of the Hausa in Nigeria are Muslims.This failed bomber was a muslim who was on the US no-fly list. sheesh more of the stupid PC from security. And still see the bullies of the TSA searching the persons of little old white church ladies. it has nothing to do with security.
Sounds like an amateur effort to give us a Merry Muslim Christmas. Thank God the guy seems to have been an incompetent.
The man told investigators that he wanted to set off a bomb over the United States, and the incident is being handled as a possibile terrorism attack by both law enforcement and intelligence agencies, senior counterterrorism officials said.
Possible terrorism attack? He said he wanted to set off a bomb. Someone explain to me how that is NOT terrorism.
These politically correct “conterterrorism experts” are gonna get a whole bunch of us killed.
Good for Rep. Peter King in getting the name of the terrorist out there.

Oh and where is Obama, well he is in Hawaii and “they say” he is monitoring Delta flight situation (but still catching those waves)