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Another Mutallab ? as time in toilet of 1 hour sparks outrage by passengers

Posted by 9jabook.com on December 28, 2009 at 12:47am
Detroit terror attack: Second Nigerian arrested on Amsterdam flight By NICK ALLEN A second Nigerian man has been arrested on a Northwest Airlines jet in Detroit 48 hours after Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab tried to blow up an airliner unday's flight - Northwest Airlines 253 - was exactly the same route that Abdulmutallab targeted on Christmas Day. The pilot alerted the authorities and the plane made an emergency landing and was met by police on its arrival in Detroit. The man, who is in his 30s, reportedly locked himself in a toilet for more than an hour as the plane flew over the US. Before locking himself in to the toilet the man had already been up and down to the same cubicle several times. Cabin crew became increasingly suspicious, broke the door down and dragged him out. He is then said to have become irate and verbally aggressive. He was subdued and the pilot contacted the airport to say there was an emergency on board. Emergency vehicles gathered on the runway to meet the plane. The passengers and crew were evacuated from the plane and the man was formally arrested. Officials said no explosive device had been found on the suspect. The man had boarded the flight with no luggage. President Barack Obama, who is on holiday in Hawaii, was informed immediately. White House officials said Mr Obama was to have further talks with his aides over airline security. However a senior US official told Fox News that the man arrested on Sunday was simply a “sick passenger”. Another official told CNN the incident appeared to be “non-serious” and that the disruptive passenger “does not appear to be a threat”. The FBI gave the all-clear within hours of the latest alert. Like Abdulmutallab, the passenger had flown from Nigeria to Amsterdam and then picked up Flight 253 to Detroit. Abdulmutallab, who had studied engineering in London until last year, disappeared into a toilet for a long period of time before trying to set off his device. The flight, which had 257 passengers and 12 crew on board, landed safely in Detroit at 12.35pm local time. The plane was removed to a secure area of the airport for additional searches by bomb experts. Police took the disruptive passenger into custody for questioning. An airline spokeswoman, Sue Elliott, said the passenger was "verbally disruptive". She added: "Out of an abundance of caution the flight crew asked the plane be met on arrival by law enforcement."
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