[Delta Airbus 330 N820NW, Flt 253, Amsterdam-Detriot -Dec. 25, 09]
A Detroit bound Delta Airbus 330 jet with over 280 people on board enroute from Amsterdam on Christmas day sustained no damage as a Nigerian man identified by U.S. law enforcement authorities as 23-year-old named Abdul Abdulmutallab was arrested for attempting to set-off an incendiary/explosive device as the plane neared landing in the United States.
ABC News is reporting that the suspect was sent on his mission by Al-Qaeda operatives in Yemen after receiving training there. According to the ABC report, the bomb was sewed into his underwear in order to avoid detection. Abdulmutallab also had been to the United States in 2008 on a previous trip to Houston, Texas. Read the ABC Exclusive.The device, which is still being analyzed by the FBI. failed to detonate, although the suspect sustained burns on his legs, where officials say the device was strapped as he tried to set it off. Passengers and crew report that a fire and an small explosion did occur, but that the suspect was subdued and the fire put out by passengers and the crew before anything else occurred. One passenger who helped stop the suspect was identified as a Danish video director.
The suspect Abdulmutallab is believed to have originated his flight to the United State in Lagos, Nigera according to U.S. law enforcement officials. Media reports claim he is telling authorities he was sent by Al-Qaeda to carry out the attack and obtained the device in Yemen.
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