On December 25, 2009, Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab, the so-called Christmas Day bomber, allegedly set off an explosive device on an airplane bound from Amsterdam to Detroit. The device, thought to contain the high explosive pentaerythritol tetranitrate (PETN), was detonated while Northwest Airlines Flight 253 was making its approach to Detroit Metropolitan Wayne County Airport. The explosion caused his clothing and the walls of the airplane to catch fire before being smothered by crew members and other passengers. Abdulmutallab, a 23-year-old Nigerian national, was later charged with willfully attempting to destroy an aircraft or aircraft facilities in violation of 18 USC § 32.


Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab

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