Yeah I Said That

Terror on board burns self with improvised explosive device on Christmas

This guy needs to write a guidebook for terrorists thinking of using airplanes as weapons. That way we would all be forever safe on jet planes.

A Nigerian man on Northwest Flight 253 flying from Amsterdam to Detroit, caused quite a stir on board on Christmas day. People saw a flash of light, heard a pop and then all hell broke loose. People started to really lose their shit, as I probably would if I had been there.

Anyway, this terrorist suspect, Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab, 23 years old, and with known ties to terror groups, ignited a small explosive device as the plane was going in for it’s landing at a Michigan airport. But it didn’t come easy for him.

He spent over 20 minutes in the bathroom prior to the “explosion” trying to fix the device. It was basically a powder he had strapped to him with duct tape. He was supposed to inject a liquid into that powder in order to create the chemical explosion. The problem was the way he had the duct tape wrapped it was preventing the liquid from flowing the way he needed it to. So he ended up with more fizzle than bang. What.An.Idiot.

One passenger said it sounded like someone popped a balloon and the smell of something burning soon followed. He could see there was a commotion in the cabin but didn’t know what was happening right away.

He heard someone asking “what are you doing, what are you doing” repeatedly when a man sitting a few rows behind him, Jasper Schuringa, leaped over a group of seats and tackled the would be killer, putting him in a headlock.

It was at that point that others decided to lend a hand and helped to subdue the suspect. His pants were on fire, Schuringa reported seeing the Nigerian holding something on fire between his legs. With passengers screaming in the background others were rushing every which way, as best they could in the confines of a plane, getting water, a fire extinguisher and blankets to subdue the flames.

Schuringa sustained burns to his hands when he grabbed the device from Abdulmutallab and attempted to put out the flame with his hands.

They got him put out, took him to the front of the plane (wouldn’t it have been wiser to get him farther away from the cockpit rather than closer to it?) and stripped him down to make sure there were no other nasty surprises hidden under his clothes. At least none that could blow up.

He was then transferred to first class where he could nurse his wounds in the extra comfortable seats while he waited to be taken into custody after landing.

Witnesses said he seemed to have several burns to his body and though some looked like they were at least 2nd and 3rd degree burns, he didn’t seem to show any pain response at all. He did however seem rather surprised. I guess he was expecting to be dead by then.