WASHINGTON, KOMPAS.com - A passenger Northwest Airlines (NWA) that landed in Detroit, USA, Friday (25/12/2009), tried to blow up the plane. However, the explosive devices failed to work.Two U.S. national security officials said, passengers were not identified using a Northwest Airlines flight with flight number 253 from Amsterdam. According to these officials, the passengers had been questioned on Friday night. According to them, the investigation continues.
Motive for the attack on Christmas Day was not immediately known. "He seems to have a number of flammable equipment and he had tried to burn," said an official. The authorities initially believed that the passengers were about to burn the firecrackers that can cause minor damage.
Spokesperson for Delta Air Lines, Susan Elliott, said the passengers were immediately secured. Elliott did not have details about the damage. Delta and Northwest have merged.
One passenger was taken to the University of Michigan Health Center. Tracy Justice as a hospital spokeswoman did not know the condition of the passengers, including whether he was male or female. He asked all the questions submitted to the FBI.
An FBI spokesman said the incident was investigated. The incident occurred shortly after the Airbus 330 aircraft carrying 278 passengers arrived in Detroit from Amsterdam.
According to the passenger named Syed Jafri, U.S. citizens flying from the United Arab Emirates, the incident occurred when the plane began to descend. Jafri said, he sat three rows behind the passenger and he saw a ray of light and smelled smoke. "A young man behind me jumped into the passenger was. Furthermore, there has been tremendous panic," he said.
Rich Griffith, another passenger, said that he was sitting too far back to know what was happening. "Frustrated at it if you can not feel safe in their own country. We can not let things that happen in other places also happen here," he said.
A source at the White House said, President Barack Obama has received notification of the incident and discuss it with security officials. According to sources, Obama monitoring the situation and receive regular updates on the location of his holiday in Hawaii.
JP Karas (55), residents around the airport, claimed to have been driving on the road near the airport and saw a Delta jet at the end of the runway surrounded by police, an ambulance, a bus, and several television trucks. "I never saw the plane on the runway before and I often passed the place," he said. Karas said, very difficult to say what is happening. However, it seems that the front wheel of the aircraft is outside of the runway.
Department of Homeland Security says the U.S., passengers may notice additional provisions on the examination of domestic and international flights due to the incident. Secretary of Homeland Security Department, Janet Napolitano, has received a brief information about the incident and is monitoring progress. The department urged passengers to always pay attention and be careful of the surroundings, and report any suspicious behavior to law enforcement officials.
