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Terror on flight
253 as British
student ignites
explosive
By Adrian Butler,
Will Payne,
Suzannah Hills and
Sabi Pahgura
___December 27th, 2009
MIRROR.CO.UK
A wealthy British student
who tried to blow up a packed
airliner in a Christmas Day terror
attack was stopped by a hero passenger
who wrestled him to the ground.
Known Muslim extremist
Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab, 23,
was trying to set off a powdered explosive
strapped to the inside of his leg with
a chemical-filled syringe.
But brave filmmaker Jasper Schuringa,
flung himself on the would-be suicide
bomber as flames and smoke shot
out of the device.
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________Jasper Schuringa
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Jasper put out the flames
with his bare hands –
suffering burns –
and got the terrorist in a stranglehold
before dragging him to the
front of the plane.
Cabin crew sprayed him
with a fire extinguisher…
and Jasper was applauded by passengers.
Last night it emerged
fanatic Abdulmutallab –
who had studied engineering in
London and lived in a £3million
flat in one of the capital’s most
exclusive areas –
was formally charged by the FBI
with trying to blow up a plane.
US District Judge Paul Borman
read him his charges at the University
of Michigan Medical Center after
agents brought Abdulmutallab into
the room in a wheelchair.
The judge asked him if he
understood the charges against him.
He said in English:
“Yes, I do.”
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He is accused of trying to ignite
an explosive device in mid-air,
thought to be PETN,
which was used by failed
shoe- bomber Richard Reid in 2001.
And in a major embarrassment
for the US security services,
it emerged Abdulmutallab had been
on an FBI watch list for two years
and was refused a British student
visa by the UK Border Agency in May
after applying to re-enter the country
to study at a bogus college.
Six months ago his father Alhaji,
who used to be chairman of a major
Nigerian bank,
told US authorities he was worried
his son might be a terrorist.
Last night he said he was surprised
his son had been allowed to fly to
the US on a valid visa.
British anti-terror police will today
continue searching Abdulmutallab’s
flat and two other properties in
Mansfield Street in Fitzrovia,
central London.
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They were due to interview friends,
colleagues and tutors who may have
known at University College London,
which he left in June 2008
after three years study.
President Barack Obama ordered US
airlines to tighten security immediately –
limiting passengers to one item of
hand luggage and extra checks –
as urgent questions were asked about
how Abdulmutallab came so close to
blowing the Airbus A330
out of the sky.
British air travellers can expect chaos,
with longer queues, body and bag
checks and instructions not to leave
their seats for an hour before landing
on all US-bound flights.
The drama unfolded as Northwest
Airlines Flight 253 from Amsterdam
to Detroit was preparing to land at
Wayne County Airport at 11.40am
local time.
Abdulmutallab had flown from
Nigeria for the flight to Detroit,
changing at busy Schiphol airport
in Amsterdam.
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He waited on the nine-hour
flight from Holland –
which passed over the UK –
to explode his bomb
above American soil.
Witnesses told the FBI the
would-be bomber had gone to
the aeroplane toilet for 20 minutes
before coming out holding a
pillow over his stomach.
As he sat down he told passengers
he had a stomach upset then pulled
a blanket over his body,
according to an affidavit
filed by investigators.
Someone sitting next to him said
they heard a “pop” like a firecracker
and smelled a strange odour.
Hero Jasper, 32,
speaking with his badly-burned
hands bandaged,
said he rushed towards Abdulmutallab
after seeing him try to ignite the bomb.
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He said:
“Suddenly, we hear a bang.
It sounded like a firecracker
went off.
When it went off,
everybody panicked.
Then someone screamed,
‘Fire! Fire!’.”
From his seat near the bomber Jasper,
from Amsterdam,
dived out of his chair.
He said:
“I saw smoke rising from a seat.
I didn’t hesitate.
I just jumped.”
He got to Abdulmutallab’s economy
window seat and saw fire spreading
over the terrorist,
who had third-degree burns.
He said:
“There were flames coming
from beneath his legs.
I searched his body parts
and he had his pants open.
He had something
strapped to his legs.”
Jasper ripped the object,
which looked like a small,
white shampoo bottle,
from Abdulmutallab’s left leg
then put out the fire with his
bare hands before yelling for water.
Another passenger said he heard
“Afghanistan” shouted in the scuffle.
As the crew brought extinguishers,
Jasper held Abdulmutallab in a
headlock and dragged him
down the aisle.
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Jasper said:
“I took him in a choke
to the first class and all
the people were like, ‘
What’s going on?’.”
Officers said cabin crew asked
Abdulmutallab if he had anything
in his pockets and he reportedly
said he had an explosive device.
He was calm throughout
the scuffle and,
after being handcuffed,
stared impassively ahead.
Jasper said afterwards:
“I don’t feel like a hero.
It was something that
came completely naturally –
I had to do something
before it was too late.”
After landing, the plane was
sent to a remote part of the airport
and surrounded by fire engines
and ambulances.
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The bomb squad sent in a
remote-controlled robot to assess
damage or danger from bombs.
Passengers were not allowed to
get off the plane for five hours.
Officers later found a damaged
syringe and traces of a powder,
pentaerythritol,
which can be used as the basis
for an PETN when mixed with acid.
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PETN is normally used as a
detonator as it only makes a
small blast.
It could have damaged the jet,
causing a crash.
After leaving London in 2008
Abdulmutallab is thought to have
gone to the Yemen,
a hotbed of terrorist sympathisers.
He broke off contact with his
father and other family.
His father Alhaji,
a former Nigerian First
Bank chairman,
said he had reported his son in
June to the US embassy in the
the capital Abuja and to Nigerian
security services after becoming
concerned about his
“extreme religious views”.
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Years earlier,
while a pupil at the British
International school in Lome,
Togo,
schoolmates said he shocked them
with his extreme views on Islam –
but was accepted on to a Duke
of Edinburgh Award course in 2004.
Prime Minister Gordon Brown
said he would take
“whatever action was necessary”
to find the group behind the bomb,
as Nigeria’s government launched
its own investigation.
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