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The attempted bombing of Northwest Airlines Flight 253 occurred on December 25, 2009, aboard an
Airbus A330 The Airbus A330 is a wide-body aircraft developed and produced by Airbus. Airbus conceived several derivatives of the A300, its first airliner in the mid-1970s. Then the company began development on the A330 twinjet in parallel with the A3 ...
as it prepared to land at Detroit Metropolitan Airport following a transatlantic flight from Amsterdam. Attributed to the terrorist organization al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP), the act was undertaken by 23-year-old
Nigerian Nigerians or the Nigerian people are citizens of Nigeria or people with ancestry from Nigeria. The name Nigeria was taken from the Niger River running through the country. This name was allegedly coined in the late 19th century by British jour ...
national Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab using
chemical explosive An explosive (or explosive material) is a reactive substance that contains a great amount of potential energy that can produce an explosion if released suddenly, usually accompanied by the production of light, heat, sound, and pressure. An ...
s sewn to his underwear. These circumstances, including the date, led to Abdulmutallab being commonly nicknamed either the "Underwear bomber" or "Christmas day bomber" by American media outlets. The event was the second airliner bombing attempt in the United States in eight years, following the 2001 American Airlines Flight 63 bombing attempt. If successful, the attack would have surpassed
American Airlines Flight 191 American Airlines Flight 191 was a regularly scheduled domestic passenger flight in the United States operated by American Airlines from Chicago O'Hare International Airport to Los Angeles International Airport. On the afternoon of May 25 ...
as the deadliest
airplane crash An aviation accident is defined by the Convention on International Civil Aviation Annex 13 as an occurrence associated with the operation of an aircraft, which takes place from the time any person boards the aircraft with the ''intention of fl ...
on U.S. soil and tied Iran Air Flight 655 as the eighth-deadliest of all time. It was also the second event in 2009 involving an Airbus A330 (after the June 1 crash of
Air France Flight 447 Air France Flight 447 (AF447 or AFR447) was a scheduled international passenger flight from Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, to Paris, France. On 1 June 2009, inconsistent airspeed indications led to the pilots inadvertently stalling the Airbus A330 ser ...
), and the final operational occurrence for Northwest Airlines (preceding that airline's merger with Delta Air Lines). For his role in the plot, Abdulmutallab was convicted as a civilian criminal in US federal court and sentenced to
life imprisonment without parole Life imprisonment is any sentence of imprisonment for a crime under which convicted people are to remain in prison for the rest of their natural lives or indefinitely until pardoned, paroled, or otherwise commuted to a fixed term. Crimes for ...
. AQAP leader
Anwar al-Awlaki Anwar Nasser al-Awlaki (also spelled al-Aulaqi, al-Awlaqi; ar, أنور العولقي, Anwar al-‘Awlaqī; April 21 or 22, 1971 – September 30, 2011) was an American imam who was killed in 2011 in Yemen by a U.S. government drone stri ...
, who reportedly inspired Abdulmutallab and "masterminded" the attack, was killed two years later as the target of a drone strike in Yemen.


Sequence of events


Preparation

On December 16, 2009, Abdulmutallab visited the KLM Royal Dutch Airlines office in Accra, Ghana and paid $2,831 in cash for a Lagos-Amsterdam-Detroit round-trip ticket, with a January 8, 2010, return date. At the time, Ghana and Nigeria were reportedly cash-based economies, making it normal for airplane tickets to be purchased in this manner. The '' Associated Press'' later reported that Abdulmutallab chose Detroit because its flights had the least-expensive fares compared to other U.S. destinations like Chicago and Houston. Initially, some media rumored that Abdulmutallab tried to fly to Detroit because it was a major hub of the U.S. automotive industry. Eight days later on December 24, he departed Ghana's
Kotoka International Airport Kotoka International Airport is an international airport in Accra, the capital of Ghana. The airport is operated by Ghana Airports Company Limited (GACL), which has its offices on the airport property. It is the sole international airport in ...
on
Virgin Nigeria Air Nigeria (originally Virgin Nigeria Airways, and then Nigerian Eagle Airlines) was the national flag carrier of Nigeria, which operated scheduled regional and domestic passenger services. The airline's base was Murtala Mohammed Internationa ...
Flight 804, bound for Murtala Muhammed Airport in Lagos, Nigeria. Abdulmutallab then connected at 23:00 local time to KLM Flight 588, a red-eye service from Lagos to Amsterdam operated by a
Boeing 777 The Boeing 777, commonly referred to as the Triple Seven, is an American long-range wide-body airliner developed and manufactured by Boeing Commercial Airplanes. It is the world's largest twinjet. The 777 was designed to bridge the gap bet ...
. Upon his arrival at
Schiphol Airport Amsterdam Airport Schiphol , known informally as Schiphol Airport ( nl, Luchthaven Schiphol, ), is the main international airport of the Netherlands. It is located southwest of Amsterdam, in the municipality of Haarlemmermeer in the province ...
, Abdulmutallab checked in for Northwest Airlines Flight 253 with only carry-on luggage.


Bombing attempt

Flight 253 was operated by an Airbus A330-323E (registered N820NW, serial number 0859) transporting 279 passengers, 8 flight attendants, and 3 pilots. The plane departed Amsterdam around 08:45 local time and was scheduled to arrive in Detroit at 11:40 EST. As the plane approached Detroit, passengers aboard the flight recalled seeing Abdulmutallab enter a
lavatory Lavatory, Lav, or Lavvy may refer to: *Toilet, the plumbing fixture *Toilet (room), containing a toilet * Public toilet *Aircraft lavatory, the public toilet on an aircraft *Latrine, a rudimentary toilet *A lavatorium, the washing facility in a m ...
for about 20 minutes. After returning to his window seat at 19A (near the fuel tanks and wing), he complained of an upset stomach and was seen pulling a blanket over himself. About 20 minutes prior to landing, he attempted to ignite a small explosive device consisting of plastic explosive powder sewn to his underwear, by injecting it with
acid In computer science, ACID ( atomicity, consistency, isolation, durability) is a set of properties of database transactions intended to guarantee data validity despite errors, power failures, and other mishaps. In the context of databases, a sequ ...
from a
syringe A syringe is a simple reciprocating pump consisting of a plunger (though in modern syringes, it is actually a piston) that fits tightly within a cylindrical tube called a barrel. The plunger can be linearly pulled and pushed along the inside ...
to cause a
chemical reaction A chemical reaction is a process that leads to the chemical transformation of one set of chemical substances to another. Classically, chemical reactions encompass changes that only involve the positions of electrons in the forming and breakin ...
. While a small explosion and fire occurred, the device failed to
detonate Detonation () is a type of combustion involving a supersonic exothermic front accelerating through a medium that eventually drives a shock front propagating directly in front of it. Detonations propagate supersonically through shock waves with s ...
properly. Passengers heard popping noises resembling firecrackers, smelled an odor, and saw the suspect's pants, leg and the wall of the plane on fire. There were no air marshals on the flight, but several passengers and crew noticed the explosion. Dutch passenger Jasper Schuringa, seated in the same row, saw Abdulmutallab sitting and visibly shaking. He tackled and overpowered him. Schuringa saw the suspect's pants were open, and that he was holding a burning object. "I pulled the object from him and tried to extinguish the fire with my hands and threw it away," said Schuringa, who suffered burns to his hands. Meanwhile, flight attendants extinguished the fire with a fire extinguisher and blankets, and a passenger removed the partially melted, smoking syringe from Abdulmutallab's hand. Schuringa grabbed the suspect, and pulled him to the business class area at the front of the plane. A passenger reported that Abdulmutallab, though burned "quite severely" on his leg, seemed "very calm," and like a "normal individual." Schuringa stripped off the suspect's clothes to look for additional weapons, and he and a crew member restrained Abdulmutallab with plastic handcuffs. "He was staring into nothing" and shaking, said Schuringa. Passengers applauded as Schuringa walked back to his seat. The suspect was isolated from other passengers until after the plane landed. A flight attendant asked Abdulmutallab what he had in his pocket, and the suspect replied: "Explosive device." When the attack triggered a fire indicator light within the
cockpit A cockpit or flight deck is the area, usually near the front of an aircraft or spacecraft, from which a pilot controls the aircraft. The cockpit of an aircraft contains flight instruments on an instrument panel, and the controls that ena ...
, the pilot requested rescue and law enforcement personnel. The plane made an emergency landing at Detroit Metropolitan Wayne County Airport in the
Downriver Downriver is the unofficial name for a collection of 18 cities and townships in Wayne County, Michigan, south of Detroit, along the western shore of the Detroit River. The place is sometimes referred to as South Detroit. Etymology The name ...
Detroit community of
Romulus, Michigan Romulus is a city in Wayne County in the U.S. state of Michigan. The population was 23,989 at the 2010 census. Romulus is a western suburb of Metro Detroit and is also considered part of the Downriver collection of communities. It is most nota ...
. The '' Toronto Star'' reported that the plane's flight route would have had it over Canadian airspace when the attempted bombing occurred. Representatives of two pilot associations told the ''Star'' that Detroit Metro airport would have been the nearest suitable airport at which to attempt an emergency landing.


Postflight

While the plane suffered relatively little damage, the suspect incurred first and
second degree burn A burn is an injury to skin, or other tissues, caused by heat, cold, electricity, chemicals, friction, or ultraviolet radiation (like sunburn). Most burns are due to heat from hot liquids (called scalding), solids, or fire. Burns occur main ...
s to his hands, as well as second-degree burns to his right inner thigh and genitalia. Two other passengers were also injured. When the plane landed, Abdulmutallab was handed over to U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) officers, 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 Anne, alternatively spelled Ann, is a form of the Latin female given name Anna. This in turn is a representation of the Hebrew Hannah, which means 'favour' or 'grace'. Related names include Annie. Anne is sometimes used as a male name in th ...
. Schuringa was also taken to the hospital. One other passenger incurred minor injuries. Immediately after his arrest, Abdulmutallab talked to authorities about the plot for about 50 minutes, without having been informed of his Miranda rights. After emerging from surgery, he was informed of his rights and stopped talking to investigators for several weeks. Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) agents, led by Special Agent in Charge Andrew Arena, arrived at the airport after the plane landed. The aircraft was moved to 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, and the
Transportation Security Administration The Transportation Security Administration (TSA) is an agency of the United States Department of Homeland Security (DHS) that has authority over the security of transportation systems within, and connecting to the United States. It was created ...
(TSA) interviewed all passengers. Another passenger from the flight was placed in handcuffs after a dog alerted officers to his carry-on luggage; he was searched, and released without charges.Alt URL
/ref> While for several days thereafter federal officials denied that this second handcuffing had occurred, they later reversed this position, and confirmed that a second passenger had indeed been handcuffed.Alt URL
/ref>


Verbally disruptive passenger incident

On December 27, 2009, two days after the original incident, the crew of another Flight 253 (operating the same route) requested emergency assistance with a Nigerian passenger who they said had become "verbally disruptive". The crew questioned the passenger after other passengers expressed concern that he had been in the lavatory for over an hour. It was later determined that the man was a businessman who had fallen ill from
food poisoning Foodborne illness (also foodborne disease and food poisoning) is any illness resulting from the spoilage of contaminated food by pathogenic bacteria, viruses, or parasites that contaminate food, as well as prions (the agents of mad cow dis ...
during the flight, and did not pose any security risk.


Key people


Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab

The perpetrator of the attack was Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab, a 23-year-old Nigerian born into a middle-class family. Abdulmutallab was raised in Kaduna, in Nigeria's Muslim-dominated north, a place he returned to on his vacations. In high school at the British International School in
Lomé Lomé is the capital and largest city of Togo. It has an urban population of 837,437
, Togo. Abdulmutallab was known to be a devout Muslim, who frequently discussed Islam with schoolmates. He visited the U.S. for the first time in 2004. For the 2004–05 academic year, Abdulmutallab studied at the
San'a Institute for the Arabic Language Sanaa ( ar, صَنْعَاء, ' , Yemeni Arabic: ; Old South Arabian: 𐩮𐩬𐩲𐩥 ''Ṣnʿw''), also spelled Sana'a or Sana, is the capital and largest city in Yemen and the centre of Sanaa Governorate. The city is not part of the Governo ...
in Sana'a, Yemen, and attended lectures at
Iman University Iman University (also al-Iman University, el-Eman University, or al-Eman University; ar, جامعة الإيمان; ''Jāmiʿat al-Īmān'') is a Sunni religious school founded in 1993 in Sanaa, Yemen.
. He began his studies at
University College London , mottoeng = Let all come who by merit deserve the most reward , established = , type = Public research university , endowment = £143 million (2020) , budget = � ...
in September 2005, where he was president of the school's Islamic society in 2006 and 2007, during which time he participated in, along with political discussions, such activities as martial arts and paintballing. During those years, he came to the attention of MI5, the UK's domestic counter-intelligence and security agency, for radical links and connections with Islamic extremists. To protect his privacy, they did not pass the information along to American officials. On June 12, 2008, Abdulmutallab applied for and received from the U.S. consulate in London a U.S. multiple-entry
visa Visa most commonly refers to: *Visa Inc., a US multinational financial and payment cards company ** Visa Debit card issued by the above company ** Visa Electron, a debit card ** Visa Plus, an interbank network *Travel visa, a document that allows ...
, valid to June 12, 2010, with which he visited Houston, Texas, from August 1–17, 2008. In May 2009, Abdulmutallab tried to return to Britain, supposedly for a six-month " life coaching" program at what the British authorities concluded was a fictitious school; accordingly, his visa application was denied by the United Kingdom Border Agency. His name was placed on a UK Home Office security watch list, which meant he was not permitted to enter the UK, though he could pass through the country in transit and was not permanently banned. The UK did not share the information with other countries. Abdulmutallab returned to the San'a Institute to study
Arabic Arabic (, ' ; , ' or ) is a Semitic language spoken primarily across the Arab world.Semitic languages: an international handbook / edited by Stefan Weninger; in collaboration with Geoffrey Khan, Michael P. Streck, Janet C. E.Watson; Walte ...
from August to September 2009. "He told me his greatest wish was for '' sharia'' and Islam to be the rule of law across the world", said one of his classmates at the institute. Abdulmutallab left the institute after a month, but remained in Yemen. Earlier, his family had become concerned in August when he called them to say he had dropped the course, but was remaining there. By September, he routinely skipped his classes at the institute and attended lectures at Iman University, which intelligence officials from the United States suspected to have links to terrorism. The San'a Institute obtained an exit visa for him at his request, and arranged for a car that took him to the airport on September 21, 2009 (the day his student visa expired), but the school's director said, "After that, we never saw him again, and apparently he did not leave Yemen". In October, Abdulmutallab told his father via text message saying that he did not want to attend business school in Dubai, and wanted instead to study Islamic law and Arabic in Yemen. When his father refused to pay for it, Abdulmutallab said he was "already getting everything for free". He text-messaged his father, saying "I've found a new religion, the real Islam", "You should just forget about me, I'm never coming back", and "Forgive me for any wrongdoing, I am no longer your child". The family was last in contact with their son in October 2009. On November 11, 2009, British intelligence officials sent the U.S. a message indicating that a man named "Umar Farouk" had spoken to
Anwar al-Awlaki Anwar Nasser al-Awlaki (also spelled al-Aulaqi, al-Awlaqi; ar, أنور العولقي, Anwar al-‘Awlaqī; April 21 or 22, 1971 – September 30, 2011) was an American imam who was killed in 2011 in Yemen by a U.S. government drone stri ...
, a Muslim spiritual leader supposedly tied to al-Qaeda, pledging to support ''jihad'', but the notice did not mention Abdulmutallab by name. On November 19, his father reported to two
CIA The Central Intelligence Agency (CIA ), known informally as the Agency and historically as the Company, is a civilian foreign intelligence service of the federal government of the United States, officially tasked with gathering, processing, ...
officers at the
U.S. Embassy The United States has the second most diplomatic missions of any country in the world after Mainland China, including 166 of the 193 member countries of the United Nations, as well as observer state Vatican City and non-member countries Kosovo ...
in Abuja, regarding his son's "extreme religious views", and told the embassy that Abdulmutallab might be in Yemen. Acting on the report, the U.S. added Abdulmutallab's name in November 2009 to its 550,000-name
Terrorist Identities Datamart Environment The Terrorist Identities Datamart Environment (TIDE) is the U.S. government's central database on known or suspected ''international'' terrorists, and contains highly classified information provided by members of the Intelligence Community such as ...
, a database of the U.S.
National Counterterrorism Center The National Counterterrorism Center (NCTC) is a United States government organization responsible for national and international counterterrorism efforts. It is based in Liberty Crossing, a modern complex near Tysons Corner in McLean, Virgin ...
. It was not added, however, to the FBI's 400,000-name Terrorist Screening Database, the terror watch list that feeds both the 14,000-name Secondary Screening Selectee list and the U.S.'s 4,000-name
No Fly List The No Fly List maintained by the United States federal government's Terrorist Screening Center (TSC) is one of several lists included in algorithmic rulesets used by government agencies and airlines to decide who to allow to board airline fligh ...
. Abdulmutallab's U.S. visa was not revoked either. Yemeni officials said that Abdulmutallab left Yemen on December 7 (flying to Ethiopia, and two days later to Ghana). Ghanaian officials said Abdulmutallab was there from December 9 until December 24, when he flew to Lagos. Two days after the attack, Abdulmutallab was released from the hospital in which he had been treated for burns sustained during the attempted bombing. He was taken to the
Federal Correctional Institution, Milan The Federal Correctional Institution, Milan (FCI Milan) is a U.S. federal prison in Michigan, with most of the prison in York Township, and a portion in Milan. It is operated by the Federal Bureau of Prisons. This prison is a low-security facili ...
, a federal prison in
York Charter Township, Michigan York Charter Township is a charter township of Washtenaw County in the U.S. state of Michigan. The population was 8,708 at the 2010 census. The township is located north of the city of Milan and is home to the Federal Correctional Institution, ...
, near Milan.


Anwar al-Awlaki

A number of sources reported contacts between Abdulmutallab and Anwar al-Awlaki, the late Muslim lecturer and spiritual leader who the U.S. accused as a senior al-Qaeda talent recruiter and motivator. al-Awlaki, previously an imam in the U.S., who had moved to Yemen, also had links to three of the
9/11 The September 11 attacks, commonly known as 9/11, were four coordinated suicide terrorist attacks carried out by al-Qaeda against the United States on Tuesday, September 11, 2001. That morning, nineteen terrorists hijacked four commer ...
hijackers, the 2005 London subway bombers, a 2006 Toronto terror cell, a 2007 plot to attack Fort Dix, and the 2009 suspected Fort Hood shooter, Nidal Malik Hasan. In 2006, he was banned from entering the UK; al-Awlaki repeatedly used a video link for public speeches from 2007 to 2009. '' The Sunday Times'' reported that Abdulmutallab first met and attended lectures by al-Awlaki in 2005, when he was in Yemen to study Arabic. He attended a sermon by al-Awlaki at the
Finsbury Park Mosque The Finsbury Park Mosque, also known as the North London Central Mosque, is a five-storey mosque located next to Finsbury Park station close to Arsenal Football Club's Emirates Stadium, in the London Borough of Islington. Finsbury Park Mosque ...
. ''Fox News'' reported that Abdulmutallab repeatedly visited Awlaki's website and blog. ''
CBS News CBS News is the news division of the American television and radio service CBS. CBS News television programs include the ''CBS Evening News'', '' CBS Mornings'', news magazine programs '' CBS News Sunday Morning'', '' 60 Minutes'', and '' 48 ...
'' and '' The Daily Telegraph'' reported that Abdulmutallab attended a video teleconference talk by al-Awlaki at the
East London Mosque The East London Mosque (ELM) is situated in the London Borough of Tower Hamlets between Whitechapel and Aldgate East. Combined with the adjoining London Muslim Centre and Maryam Centre, it is one of the largest mosques in Europe accommodating ...
. ''CBS News'' reported that the two had communicated in the months before the bombing attempt, and other sources have said that at a minimum, al-Awlaki was providing spiritual support for Abdulmutallab and the attack. According to federal sources, over the year prior to the attack, Abdulmutallab had repeatedly communicated with al-Awlaki. Intelligence officials suspected that al-Awlaki may have told Abdulmutallab to go to Yemen for al-Qaeda training. One government source described intercepted "voice-to-voice communication" between the two during the fall of 2009, saying that al-Awlaki "was in some way involved in facilitating bdulmutallabs transportation or trip through Yemen. It could be training, a host of things." Abdulmutallab reportedly told the FBI that he had trained under al-Awlaki at an al-Qaeda training camp in Yemen. Yemen's Deputy Prime Minister for Defense and Security Affairs, Rashad Mohammed al-Alimi, said Yemeni investigators believe the suspect traveled in October to Shabwa, where he may have obtained the explosives and received training. He met with suspected al-Qaida members in a house built by al-Awlaki and used by al-Awlaki to hold religious meetings. "If he went to Shabwa, for sure he would have met Anwar al-Awlaki," al-Alimi said. Al-Alimi also said he believed al-Awlaki was alive. And Abdul Elah al-Shaya, a Yemeni journalist, said a healthy al-Awlaki called him on December 28 and said that the Yemeni government's claims as to his death were "lies". Shaya declined to comment as to whether al-Awlaki had told him about any contacts he may have had with Abdulmutallab. According to Gregory Johnsen, a Yemeni expert at Princeton University, Shaya is generally reliable. At the end of January 2010, a Yemeni journalist, Abdulelah Hider Sha'ea, said he met with al-Awlaki, who told Sha'ea that he had met and spoken with Abdulmutallab in Yemen in late 2009. Al-Awlaki also reportedly called Abdulmutallab one of his students, said that he supported what Abdulmutallab did but did not tell him to do it, and that he was proud of Abdulmutallab. A '' New York Times'' journalist who listened to a digital recording of the meeting said that while the tape's authenticity could not be independently verified, the voice resembled that on other recordings of al-Awlaki. Al-Awlaki released a tape in March 2010, in which he said, in part:
:To the American people ... nine years after 9/11, nine years of spending, and nine years of beefing up security you are still unsafe even in the holiest and most sacred of days to you, Christmas Day.... :Our brother Umar Farouk has succeeded in breaking through the security systems that have cost the U.S. government alone over 40 billion dollars since 9/11.
Beginning December 18, 2009, President Obama authorized attacks on suspected Al-Qaeda bases in Yemen. On April 6, 2010, ''The New York Times'' reported that President Obama had authorized the targeted killing of al-Awlaki. Al-Qaeda in Yemen released a video in 2010 that showed Abdulmutallab and others training in a desert camp. The tape includes a statement from Abdulmutallab justifying his actions against "the Jews and the Christians and their agents." Al-Awlaki was killed in a U.S. airstrike in Yemen on September 30, 2011.


Al-Qaeda involvement

On December 28, 2009, Obama, in his first address after the incident, said that the event "demonstrates that an alert and courageous citizenry are far more resilient than an isolated extremist". On the same day, Al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP) announced that it was responsible for the attempted bombing. AQAP said that the attack, during "their mericans'celebration of the Christmas holidays", was to "avenge U.S. attacks on the militants in Yemen". On January 24, an audio tape said to be from Osama bin Laden praised the bombing attempt and warned of further attacks against the United States, but did not claim responsibility for it. The short recording, which was broadcast on
Al Jazeera Al Jazeera ( ar, الجزيرة, translit-std=DIN, translit=al-jazīrah, , "The Island") is a state-owned Arabic-language international radio and TV broadcaster of Qatar. It is based in Doha and operated by the media conglomerate Al Jazeera M ...
television, said: "The message delivered to you through the plane of the heroic warrior Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab was a confirmation of the previous messages sent by the heroes of the September 11." An adviser to the U.S. president said he could not confirm whether the voice was that of bin Laden. In the past, the CIA has usually confirmed Al Jazeera reports on tapes attributed to bin Laden. While in custody, Abdulmutallab told authorities he had been directed by al-Qaeda. He said he had obtained the device in Yemen, and was told to detonate it when the plane was over the United States. Abdulmutallab said he had contacted al-Qaeda through a radical Yemeni imam (who according to ''The New York Times'' on December 26 was not believed to be al-Awlaki) whom he had reached through the internet. ''The New York Times'' reported on December 25 that a counter-terrorism official had told them Abdulmutallab's claim of connection with al-Qaeda "may have been aspirational". But U.S. Representative
Jane Harman Jane Margaret Lakes Harman (born June 28, 1945) is the former U.S. Representative for , serving from 1993 to 1999, and from 2001 to 2011; she is a member of the Democratic Party. Harman was the ranking Democrat on the House Intelligence Commit ...
(D-Calif.), Chairman of the House Homeland Security Subcommittee on Intelligence, Information Sharing, and Terrorism Risk Assessment, said the following day that a federal official briefed lawmakers about "strong suggestions of a Yemen-al Qaeda connection" with the suspect. On January 2, 2010, President Obama said that AQAP trained, equipped, and dispatched Abdulmutallab, and vowed retribution. In reaction to suggestions that the U.S. launch a military offensive against the alleged terrorists' sanctuary in Yemen, '' The Washington Post'' noted that Yemeni forces equipped with U.S. weapons and intelligence had carried out two major raids against AQAP shortly before the bombing attempt, and that the terror group may have lost top leaders in a December 24, 2009
airstrike An airstrike, air strike or air raid is an offensive operation carried out by aircraft. Air strikes are delivered from aircraft such as blimps, balloons, fighters, heavy bombers, ground attack aircraft, attack helicopters and drones. The offici ...
. On March 24, 2011, the ''Associated Press'' reported that before Abdulmutallab set off on his mission, he visited the home of al-Qaeda manager
Fahd al-Quso Fahd Mohammed Ahmed al-Quso (12 November 1974 – 6 May 2012), also known as Abu Huthaifah, Abu Huthaifah Al-Yemeni, Abu Al-Bara', Abu Hathayfah Al-Adani, Abu Huthaifah Al-Adani, Fahd Mohammed Ahmed Al-Awlaqi, Huthaifah Al-Yemeni, or Abu Huthaifa ...
to discuss the plot and the workings of the bomb. In addition, the ''AP'' said that Abdulmutallab targeted Detroit because the plane ticket there was cheaper than the tickets to either Houston or Chicago. This suggests that al-Qaeda in Yemen chose to attack "targets of opportunity," rather than Osama bin Laden's preference of "symbolic targets."


Jasper Schuringa

Jasper Schuringa, who was en route to Miami, Florida, for a vacation, stopped Abdulmutallab from causing too much damage and received burn injuries in the process. In a statement, Schuringa, who was in seat 20J on the flight, said he was able to locate Abdulmutallab, help to extinguish the fire that the explosive had caused, and helped to restrain Abdulmutallab using plastic cuffs. Schuringa lives in Amsterdam, and was born in 1977 in Curaçao, Netherlands Antilles. Schuringa is a graduate of
Leiden University Leiden University (abbreviated as ''LEI''; nl, Universiteit Leiden) is a public research university in Leiden, Netherlands. The university was founded as a Protestant university in 1575 by William, Prince of Orange, as a reward to the city of L ...
, Leiden. He is a film director of
low-budget A low-budget film or low-budget movie is a motion picture shot with little to no funding from a major film studio or private investor. Many independent films are made on low budgets, but films made on the mainstream circuit with inexperienced or ...
Dutch films for an Amsterdam-based media company, and was the assistant director for '' National Lampoon's Teed Off Too''. Dutch
Deputy Prime Minister A deputy prime minister or vice prime minister is, in some countries, a government minister who can take the position of acting prime minister when the prime minister is temporarily absent. The position is often likened to that of a vice president, ...
Wouter Bos phoned Schuringa on behalf of the Dutch government the day after the attack, and conveyed the government's compliments and gratitude for Schuringa's part in overpowering the suspect. Dutch Member of Parliament
Geert Wilders Geert Wilders (; born 6 September 1963) is a Dutch politician who has led the Party for Freedom (''Partij voor de Vrijheid'' – PVV) since he founded it in 2006. He is also the party's leader in the House of Representatives (''Tweede Kamer ...
called Schuringa "a national hero" who "deserves a royal honor", which Wilders said he would ask the Dutch government to award. According to the Dutch newspaper '' De Volkskrant'',
Queen Beatrix Beatrix (Beatrix Wilhelmina Armgard, ; born 31 January 1938) is a member of the Dutch royal house who reigned as Queen of the Netherlands from 1980 until her abdication in 2013. Beatrix is the eldest daughter of Queen Juliana and her husba ...
expressed her feelings of gratitude towards Schuringa. On May 21, 2010, Schuringa received the Honorary Medal of the city Amsterdam from then-acting mayor of Amsterdam,
Lodewijk Asscher Lodewijk Frans Asscher (; born 27 September 1974) is a Dutch politician and jurist who served as Leader of the Labour Party (PvdA) from 2016 to 2021 and parliamentary leader in the House of Representatives from 2017 to 2021. Asscher worked as a ...
, for his "extraordinary heroism." In December 2010, Schuringa was also awarded the Silver Carnegie Medal from the Dutch division of the
Carnegie Hero Fund The Carnegie Hero Fund Commission, also known as Carnegie Hero Fund, was established to recognize persons who perform extraordinary acts of heroism in civilian life in the United States and Canada, and to provide financial assistance for those d ...
.


Reactions and investigations


U.S. response

President
Barack Obama Barack Hussein Obama II ( ; born August 4, 1961) is an American politician who served as the 44th president of the United States from 2009 to 2017. A member of the Democratic Party, Obama was the first African-American president of the U ...
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. He instructed that all appropriate measures be taken in response to the incident. The White House called the attack an act of terrorism. While describing security measures taken by U.S. and foreign governments in the immediate aftermath of the attack, U.S. Secretary of Homeland Security
Janet Napolitano Janet Ann Napolitano (; born November 29, 1957) is an American politician, lawyer, and university administrator who served as the 21st governor of Arizona from 2003 to 2009 and third United States secretary of homeland security from 2009 to 201 ...
said "once the incident occurred, the system worked." She cited "the actions of the passengers and the crew on this flight" to show "why that system is so important." After heavy criticism, she stated the following day that the system "failed miserably," referring to Abdulmutallab's boarding the flight with an explosive device. On December 29, President Obama called the U.S.'s failure to prevent the bombing attempt "totally unacceptable", and ordered an investigation. The U.S. investigation was managed by the Detroit Joint Terrorism Task Force, led by the FBI and including the U.S. Customs and Border Protection,
U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement The U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) is a federal law enforcement agency under the U.S. Department of Homeland Security. ICE's stated mission is to protect the United States from the cross-border crime and illegal immigration th ...
, the Federal Air Marshal Service, and other law enforcement agencies. They initially focused on determining what kind of training Abdulmutallab received, who else (if anyone) was in the same training program, whether others were preparing to launch similar attacks, whether the attack was part of a larger plot, whether the attack was a test run, and who, if anyone, assisted Abdulmutallab. Additionally, investigators examining what information the U.S. government possessed before the attack, why its National Counterterrorism Center did not make a connection between the warning from Abdulmutallab's father,
National Security Agency (NSA) The National Security Agency (NSA) is a national-level intelligence agency of the United States Department of Defense, under the authority of the Director of National Intelligence (DNI). The NSA is responsible for global monitoring, collectio ...
intercepts of conversations among Yemeni al-Qaida leaders about a "Nigerian" to be used for an attack (months before the attack took place), and why the suspect's U.S. visa was not withdrawn.


Analysis of explosives

The substance that the suspect tried to detonate was a combination of more than of
pentaerythritol tetranitrate Pentaerythritol tetranitrate (PETN), also known as PENT, PENTA, (ПЕНТА, primarily in Russian) TEN, corpent, or penthrite (or, rarely and primarily in German, as nitropenta), is an explosive material. It is the nitrate ester of pentaerythr ...
(PETN), a
crystalline A crystal or crystalline solid is a solid material whose constituents (such as atoms, molecules, or ions) are arranged in a highly ordered microscopic structure, forming a crystal lattice that extends in all directions. In addition, macrosc ...
powder that is often the
active ingredient An active ingredient is any ingredient that provides biologically active or other direct effect in the diagnosis, cure, mitigation, treatment, or prevention of disease or to affect the structure or any function of the body of humans or animals. Th ...
of plastic explosives, the high explosive triacetone triperoxide (TATP), and other ingredients. PETN is among the most powerful of explosives, and chemically resembles nitroglycerin. The powder was analyzed by the FBI at Quantico, and an FBI
affidavit An ( ; Medieval Latin for "he has declared under oath") is a written statement voluntarily made by an ''affiant'' or '' deponent'' under an oath or affirmation which is administered by a person who is authorized to do so by law. Such a statemen ...
filed in the Eastern District of Michigan reflected preliminary findings that the device contained PETN. The authorities also found the remains of the syringe. The suspect apparently carried the PETN onto the plane in a -long soft plastic container, possibly a condom, attached to his underwear. Much of the container was lost in the fire. ''
ABC News ABC News is the news division of the American broadcast network ABC. Its flagship program is the daily evening newscast '' ABC World News Tonight with David Muir''; other programs include morning news-talk show ''Good Morning America'', ''Ni ...
'' cited a government test indicating that of PETN can blow a hole in the side of an airliner, and posted photos of the remains of Abdulmutallab's underwear and explosive packet. In a public test conducted by the
BBC #REDIRECT BBC Here i going to introduce about the best teacher of my life b BALAJI sir. He is the precious gift that I got befor 2yrs . How has helped and thought all the concept and made my success in the 10th board exam. ...
, the test plane's fuselage remained intact, indicating that the bomb would not have destroyed the aircraft, though it did show window damage that would likely have led to cabin depressurization. This test was undertaken at ground level, with zero pressure differential between the cabin and the surrounding environment. This was claimed to have no effect on the overall result of the test, which aimed to simulate the explosion at . It was not demonstrated what would happen at a typical cruising altitude of between and , where the pressure differential would have caused the fuselage to be under a far greater stress than at ground level. Al-Qaeda member
Richard Reid Richard Colvin Reid (born 12 August 1973), also known as the "Shoe Bomber", is the perpetrator of the failed shoe bombing attempt on a transatlantic flight in 2001. Born to a father who was a career criminal, Reid converted to Islam as a young ...
(the "Shoe Bomber") had tried to detonate 50 grams of the same explosives in his shoes during an American Airlines flight on December 22, 2001. On January 7, 2010,
James L. Jones James Logan Jones Jr. (born December 19, 1943) is a retired United States Marine Corps four-star general and consultant who served as the 21st United States National Security Advisor from 2009 to 2010. During his military career, he served as th ...
, the
National Security Advisor A national security advisor serves as the chief advisor to a national government on matters of security. The advisor is not usually a member of the government's cabinet but is usually a member of various military or security councils. National sec ...
, said Americans would feel "a certain shock" when a report detailing the intelligence failures that could have prevented the attack would be released that day. He said that President Obama would be "legitimately and correctly alarmed that things that were available, bits of information that were available, patterns of behavior that were available, were not acted on." On April 6, 2010, it was reported that President Obama had authorized military action to kill
Anwar al-Awlaki Anwar Nasser al-Awlaki (also spelled al-Aulaqi, al-Awlaqi; ar, أنور العولقي, Anwar al-‘Awlaqī; April 21 or 22, 1971 – September 30, 2011) was an American imam who was killed in 2011 in Yemen by a U.S. government drone stri ...
, the Muslim cleric accused of being a Yemen-based al-Qaeda commander behind the plot. Al-Awlaki was killed on September 30, 2011, as a result of a targeted drone strike.


International response

Gordon Brown James Gordon Brown (born 20 February 1951) is a British former politician who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom and Leader of the Labour Party from 2007 to 2010. He previously served as Chancellor of the Exchequer in Tony B ...
, Prime Minister of the United Kingdom, said that the UK would take "whatever action was necessary". The day after the attack, British police searched a family-owned flat where Abdulmutallab had lived while in London. Dutch counter-terrorism agency NCTb said that it had started a probe into where the suspect originated. Dutch officials also said that they will now use 3D full-body scanning X-ray technology on flights departing to the U.S., despite protests from privacy advocates. Dutch officials said that security must take priority over the privacy of the individuals being scanned, but the scanners are not designed to compromise an individual's privacy, as the imagery resolution is only high enough to detect non-metallic objects under clothing, such as powdered explosives. Members of the Second Chamber ( Lower House) of the
Dutch parliament The States General of the Netherlands ( nl, Staten-Generaal ) is the supreme bicameral legislature of the Netherlands consisting of the Senate () and the House of Representatives (). Both chambers meet at the Binnenhof in The Hague. The Sta ...
demanded an explanation from
Minister of Justice A justice ministry, ministry of justice, or department of justice is a ministry or other government agency in charge of the administration of justice. The ministry or department is often headed by a minister of justice (minister for justice in ...
Hirsch Ballin, asking how the suspect managed to smuggle explosives on board, despite Schiphol's reportedly strict security measures. The incident also raised concerns regarding security procedures at Nigeria's major international airports in Lagos and Abuja. In response to criticism, Nigerian civil aviation officer Harold Demuran announced that Nigeria would also set up full-body scanning X-ray machines in Nigerian airports. In response to the incident and to comply with new U.S. regulations, the Canadian government said it would install full body scanners at major airports. The first 44 scanners were planned to be installed at airports in Vancouver, Calgary, Edmonton, Winnipeg, Toronto, Ottawa, Montreal, and Halifax.


Other agencies

Delta Air Lines, which owned Northwest until all operations were merged into Delta on January 31, 2010, said its Detroit group did not handle security for the flight. It released a statement calling the incident a "disturbance," and saying that Delta was "cooperating fully with authorities". - Delta's CEO, Richard Anderson, said in an internal memo that "Having this occur again fter 9/11is disappointing to all of us... You can be certain we will make our points very clearly in Washington." In January 2010,
ICTS International ICTS International N.V. is a Dutch firm that develops products and provides consulting and personnel services in the field of aviation and general security.Dolev, 2004, p. 342. It was established in 1982, by former members of the Shin Bet, Israel' ...
, a security firm that provides security services to Schiphol airport, and
G4S G4S is a British multinational private security company headquartered in London, England. The company was set up in 2004 when London-based Securicor amalgamated with Danish firm Group 4 Falck. The company offers a range of services, includin ...
(Group 4 Securicor Aviation Security B.V.), another security firm, traded blame over the security oversight, as did authorities at Schiphol Airport, the Federal Aviation Authority, and U.S. intelligence officials. According to ''
Haaretz ''Haaretz'' ( , originally ''Ḥadshot Haaretz'' – , ) is an Israeli newspaper. It was founded in 1918, making it the longest running newspaper currently in print in Israel, and is now published in both Hebrew and English in the Berliner ...
'', the failure was twofold: An intelligence failure, as Obama stated, in the poor handling of information that arrived at the State Department and probably also the CIA from both the father of the would-be bomber and the British security service; and a failure within the security system, including that of ICTS.


Aftermath


Criminal charges and conviction

On December 26, a
criminal complaint In legal terminology, a complaint is any formal legal document that sets out the facts and legal reasons (see: cause of action) that the filing party or parties (the plaintiff(s)) believes are sufficient to support a claim against the party ...
was filed against Abdulmutallab in the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Michigan, charging him with two counts: placing a destructive device in, and attempting to destroy, a U.S. civil aircraft. Abdulmutallab was arraigned and officially charged by U.S. District Court Judge Paul D. Borman later the same day at the University of Michigan Hospital. On January 6, 2010, a federal grand jury indicted Abdulmutallab on six criminal counts including attempted use of a weapon of mass destruction and attempted murder. "Not guilty" pleas were entered on the behalf of Abdulmutallab at the hearing. He faced his first court hearing, a detention hearing, on January 8, 2010. When asked about his decision to prosecute Abdulmutallab in federal court rather than have him detained under the law of war, U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder defended his position, saying that it was "fully consistent with the long-established and publicly known policies and practices of the Department of Justice, the FBI, and the United States Government as a whole," and that he was confident that Abdulmutallab would be successfully prosecuted under the federal criminal law. Holder had originally been asked by U.S. Senator Mitch McConnell, as well as several others, about his choice. On February 16, 2012, Abdulmutallab, who had pleaded guilty but remained unrepentant, was sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole. He is currently incarcerated at the
ADX Florence The United States Penitentiary, Florence Administrative Maximum Facility (USP Florence ADMAX), commonly known as ADX Florence, is an American federal prison in Fremont County near Florence, Colorado. It is operated by the Federal Bureau of Pris ...
supermax prison, near Florence, Colorado.


Effect on travel

The U.S. government did not raise the Homeland Security Advisory System terrorist threat level, orange at the time (high risk of terrorist attacks), following the attack. The Department of Homeland Security enacted additional security measures for the remainder of the Christmas travel period. The TSA detailed several of these measures, including a restriction on movement and access to personal items during the last hour of flight for planes entering U.S. airspace. The TSA also announced an increase of officers and security dogs at airports. The U.S. also increased the installation and use of
millimeter wave scanner A millimeter wave scanner is a whole-body imaging device used for detecting objects concealed underneath a person’s clothing using a form of electromagnetic radiation. Typical uses for this technology include detection of items for commercial ...
s in many airports as a result of the attack. Designed to detect explosive materials under clothing, the machines were initially deployed at 11 airports, including O'Hare International Airport in Chicago, beginning in March 2010. The TSA announced further plans to install 1,000 of the machines in other airports by the end of 2011. Prior to 2010, the U.S. had only 40 scanners across 19 airports. The government also said that it planned to buy 300 additional scanners in 2010 and another 500 in the following fiscal year, starting October 2010. It costs around an estimated $530 million to purchase the 500 machines and hire over 5,300 workers to operate them. However, the U.S. government has stated that being scanned is voluntary and that passengers who object to the process could choose to undergo a pat-down search or be searched with hand-held detectors. Under new rules prompted by the incident, airline passengers traveling to the U.S. from 14 nations would undergo extra screening: Afghanistan,
Algeria ) , image_map = Algeria (centered orthographic projection).svg , map_caption = , image_map2 = , capital = Algiers , coordinates = , largest_city = capital , relig ...
, Cuba, Iran, Iraq, Lebanon, Libya, Nigeria, Pakistan, Saudi Arabia, Somalia, Sudan, Syria, and Yemen. The inclusion of non-Muslim Cuba on the list was criticized. On December 28,
Transport Canada Transport Canada (french: Transports Canada) is the department within the Government of Canada responsible for developing regulations, policies and services of road, rail, marine and air transportation in Canada. It is part of the Transporta ...
announced that for several days it would not allow passengers flying to the U.S. from Canada a carry-on bag, with some exceptions.
British Airways British Airways (BA) is the flag carrier airline of the United Kingdom. It is headquartered in London, England, near its main hub at Heathrow Airport. The airline is the second largest UK-based carrier, based on fleet size and passengers ca ...
said that passengers flying to the U.S. would only be permitted one carry-on item. Other European countries increased baggage screening, pat-down searches, and random searches for passengers traveling to the U.S. A spokesperson for Schiphol Airport said that heightened security would be in place for "an indefinite period". However, in spite of the extra measures said to have been put in place to prevent a follow-up attack, Stuart Clarke, a photoreporter from the British newspaper '' Daily Express'', claimed to have smuggled a syringe containing fluid, which could have been a liquid bomb detonator onto another plane. On January 3, 2010, Clarke said he boarded a jet from Schiphol Airport bound for Heathrow Airport just five days after the Christmas Day attack, and that the airport appeared to have imposed no additional security, such as precautionary pat-downs which could easily have discovered the syringe which he claimed he kept in his jacket pocket throughout.


U.S. political fallout

White House Press Secretary
Robert Gibbs Robert Lane Gibbs (born March 29, 1971) is an American communication professional who served as executive vice president and global chief communications officer of McDonald's from 2015 to 2019 and as the 27th White House Press Secretary from 2 ...
and Secretary of Homeland Security Janet Napolitano said several times on Sunday talk shows that "the system had worked", a statement that engendered some controversy. The next day they retracted the statements, saying that the system had in fact "failed miserably." According to Napolitano, her initial statement had referred to the rapid response to the attack that included alerts sent to the 128 other aircraft in U.S. airspace at the time, and new security requirements for the final hour of flight, rather than the security failures that allowed the attack to happen. Napolitano had originally stated on '' This Week'' that "once this incident occurred, everything went according to clockwork" and that "once the incident occurred, the system worked". The day after the attack, the U.S. House Homeland Security Committee and Senate Commerce, Science, and Transportation Committee both announced that they would hold hearings in January 2010 to investigate how the device passed through security, and whether further restrictions should be placed on air travel; the Senate hearings began on January 21. Four days after the attack, Obama said publicly that Abdulmutallab's ability to board the aircraft was the result of a systemic failure that included an inadequate sharing of information among U.S. and foreign government agencies. He called the situation "totally unacceptable." He ordered that a report be delivered detailing how some government agencies had failed to share or highlight potentially relevant information about the suspect before he allegedly tried to blow up the airliner. Two days later Obama received the briefing, which included statements that information about the suspect had failed to cross agency lines, and that the failures to communicate within the U.S. government had led to the threat posed by Abdulmutallab not being known by certain agencies until the attack. Obama said he would meet with security officials and specifically question why Abdulmutallab was not placed on the U.S. no-fly list, despite the government having received warnings about his potential al-Qaeda links. On January 27, 2010, an official from the U.S. State Department said that Abdulmutallab's visa was not revoked because federal authorities believed that it would have compromised a larger investigation. The official, Patrick F. Kennedy, said intelligence officials had told the State Department that letting Abdulmutallab keep his visa would allow for a greater chance of exposing the terrorist network.Alt URL
/ref>


Alleged subsequent plot

On May 7, 2012, American officials claimed that they had thwarted another Al Qaeda plot that would have targeted a civilian passenger plane not unlike Northwest Airlines Flight 253.Cushman, John H. Jr.,

", '' The New York Times'', May 7, 2012.
American officials stated that the attack would have involved a more sophisticated bomb, also planted in undergarments, and would have been deployed near the anniversary of the killing of Osama Bin Laden. Officials did not state whether any persons had been arrested or charged in their operation. An American official told '' MSNBC'' that the bomb was received by American security personnel in April, "was never near a plane" and "never posed a risk." They speculated that the bomb might have been constructed by
Ibrahim al-Asiri Ibrahim Hassan Tali al-Asiri ( ar, ابراهيم حسن طالي العسيري; April 18 or 19, 1982 – 2017) was a citizen of Saudi Arabia suspected of being chief bomb-maker of al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula. He was reported to have been ...
, who is accused of constructing the explosives used by Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab in 2009.NBC News,
CIA foiled al-Qaida plot to destroy US-bound airliner
May 7, 2012.


See also

*
Al-Qaeda insurgency in Yemen The Al-Qaeda insurgency in Yemen is an ongoing armed conflict between the Yemeni government, the United States and their allies, and al-Qaeda-affiliated cells in Yemen. It is a part of the Global War on Terror. Government crackdown against ...
* Flying while Muslim * List of accidents and incidents involving commercial aircraft *
List of terrorist incidents, 2009 This is a timeline of incidents in 2009 that have been labelled as " terrorism" and are not believed to have been carried out by a government or its forces (see state terrorism and state-sponsored terrorism). Guidelines * To be included, en ...
* Pan Am Flight 103,
Air India Flight 182 Air India Flight 182 was an Air India flight operating on the Montreal–London–Delhi–Bombay route. On 23 June 1985, it was operated using Boeing 747-237B registered ''VT-EFO''. It disintegrated in mid-air en route from Montreal to Lond ...
, Narita Airport Bombing,
Philippine Airlines Flight 434 Philippine Airlines Flight 434, sometimes referred to as PAL434 or PR434, was a flight on December 11, 1994 from Cebu to Tokyo on a Boeing 747-283B that was seriously damaged by a bomb, killing one passenger and damaging vital control systems. ...
,
Metrojet Flight 9268 Metrojet Flight 9268 was an international chartered passenger flight, operated by Russian airline Kogalymavia (branded as Metrojet). On 31 October 2015, at 06:13 local time EST (04:13 UTC), an Airbus A321-231 operating the flight exploded ...
, American Airlines Flight 63,
Itavia Flight 870 On 27 June 1980, Itavia Flight 870 (IH 870, AJ 421), a McDonnell Douglas DC-9 passenger jet en route from Bologna to Palermo, Italy, crashed into the Tyrrhenian Sea between the islands of Ponza and Ustica, killing all 81 people on board. Known ...
, all aircraft bombings or attempted aircraft bombings that failed with explosive devices detonating improperly or before flight.


References


External links


''Registered Flight-path of NWA 253''
December 25, 2009
Criminal Complaint and Affidavit for ''U.S. v. Abdulmutallab''
December 25, 2009
''Statement by Department of Homeland Security Press Secretary Sara Kuban''
Department of Homeland Security, December 25, 2009
''TSA and DHS Statements on Northwest Airlines Flight 253''
Transportation Security Administration The Transportation Security Administration (TSA) is an agency of the United States Department of Homeland Security (DHS) that has authority over the security of transportation systems within, and connecting to the United States. It was created ...
, December 26, 2009
''Transcript, Audio, Video of President Obama's First Press Conference on Flight 253 Terrorist Attempt''
December 28, 2009
Indictment in ''U.S. v. Abdulmutallab''
January 6, 2010
"Summary of the White House Review of the December 25, 2009 Attempted Terrorist Attack"
January 7, 2010 * Rosenblith, Roey

'' The Huffington Post'', December 27, 2009
BBC – How Safe Are Our Skies? Detroit Flight 253
{{DEFAULTSORT:Northwest Airlines Flight 0253 2009 crimes in the United States 2009 in Michigan Anwar al-Awlaki Failed airliner bombings Islamic terrorism in the United States Suicide bombings in the United States Terrorist incidents in the United States in 2009 Airliner bombings in the United States Attacks in the United States in 2009 December 2009 events in the United States Detroit Metropolitan Airport International terrorism Airline occurrences