Posted on 12/26/2001 3:46:23 PM PST by pa_dweller
The substance concealed in the shoes of a passenger on a Paris-Miami flight was the high explosive pentrite, but the amount could not have destroyed the aircraft, a source close to the French police said.
The source, quoting US officials investigating the incident, said the man's sports shoes contained almost 200 grammes (less than half a pound) of the granulated explosive. The explosive shoes had been equipped with a firework-type detonation device involving a simple fuse and acetone, the report said.
If it had exploded, the device would have caused a very loud bang and blast effect in the cabin, but would not have caused the aircraft to blow up, the source said.
The man, identified by the Federal Bureau of Investigation as Richard Reid, 28, was caught Saturday by a flight attendant aboard American Airlines flight 63 bound from Paris to Miami who smelled sulfur when passing his seat and saw him trying to ignite a wire stuck in his shoe.
Preliminary analysis by an FBI lab here determined there were two explosive devices stashed in Reid's shoes according to a US Justice Department statement. No motives have been identified for the thwarted attempt US officials believed was a suicide mission.
Richard Shelby, the ranking Republican on the Senate Intelligence Committee said the man "was trying to blow himself up, blow the plane up and we are very fortunate that it did not happen."
"The message is that terrorists are going to hit us again. Is this part of a widespread deal or is this guy acting alone ? We don't know yet," Shelby told CBS after being briefed by the FBI.
Earlier Sunday, Laura White, the spokeswoman for the Massachusetts Airport Authority, said the material in Reid's shoes was consistent with the plastic explosive C-4, used for both industrial and military purposes, adding his stash was enough to cause considerable damage to the aircraft.
Plastic explosives of that type cannot be detected by X-rays or other scanning devices used in airports, transportation experts said, explaining the explosive can only be detected by sniffer dogs.
The criminal complaint against Reid says that about one and a half hours into the flight a flight attendant, Hermis Moutardier, confronted Reid after seeing him holding a lighted match to his shoe.
She grabbed at the sneaker and was shoved into a bulkhead by Reid, described as about six feet four inches (190 centimeters) tall and weighing more than 200 pounds (90 kilograms).
Another flight attendant who tried to help her, Christina Jones, was bitten on the thumb. Several passengers answer her cries for help and Reid was finally overpowered.
Kwame James, a professional basketball player in France who stands six feet, eight inches, said Reid was "unbelievably strong," resisting every effort to subdue him.
"So a doctor came by, gave him an injection and then we tied him up with everything we could get our hands on, belts, just anything that could tie," James told ABC.
"He couldn't swing because there were so many of us. But he was just unbelievably strong, almost possessed. And we just held him down, tied him up, and subdued him."
The Boeing 767 with 197 people aboard was escorted by two US F-15 fighter jets to Boston's Logan International Airport, where FBI agents awaited them, immediately taking Reid into custody.
The Justice Department statement said he is to appear in a Boston federal court Monday at 9:30 am (1430 GMT) on charges of assault and intimidation of the flight crew.
But questions remain about the identity of the man described by witness Monique Danison as "tall, (with) long curly hair," and wearing a "gray beanie."
"He looked like he was on something," said the 20-year-old university student who was returning to California after a five-month study abroad program in France.
"I remember thinking, 'If he's a terrorist, he's a moron,' because he stood out when I saw him."
Reid had identified himself to US law enforcement alternately as Tariq Raja, born in 1973 in Sri Lanka, and Abdel Rahim, a name reflecting his conversion to Islam, French police sources said.
But his passport, obtained three weeks earlier in Brussels from the British consulate, bore his picture and identified him as Richard Colvin Reid -- also born in 1973.
"We believe he's British but there is some doubt as to the validity of his papers," a Scotland Yard spokesman told AFP before the FBI released its statement.
Airline staff at Paris' Charles de Gaulle airport had turned Reid away from the same flight Friday because he was "behaving bizarrely, was agitated and had a worrying look," a French police source said.
a. the amount could not have destroyed the aircraft
b. would not have caused the aircraft to blow up
c. we are very fortunate that it did not happen
Maybe a few 'grammes' of this stuff would not cause the plane to 'blow up' but, at 30,000 to 40,000 feet would things be different? Could this much explosive weaken the airframe or damage a control system enough to lead to a catastrophic failure?
Would it be enough to blow down a cockpit door?
Since we are 'very fortunate' he didn't get to set it off, methinks this stuff is more powerful than the article lets on.
I myself am puzzled by the mention of acetone, which is highly flammable, but not explosive.
Because he's an idiot?
They undoubtedly have good reason to try to show that Reid could not have broght down the plane.
I doubt very seriously if they know. But they would like to mitigate their failure to prevent this terrorist from getting on the plane.
How many times have we been told how good the German, French and English airport security is?
Their airport security may be good, but the track record of their cops suck.
Much of the explosive force of a grenade is a result of the explosive force being contained by the casing. An analogy is the difference between clasping a firecracker in your fist or igniting it on your open palm. One results in a scorched palm, the other in a severely damaged hand.
I'm confused about something too. When did the French police do a chemical analysis?
What was this doctor doing on the plane with a weapon?
I hadn't thought of that, you may be on to something. It would be interesting to have a reply posted by someone knowledgeable about explosives - someone who could shed some light on the relative power of this stuff.
Click here: AA Flight 63
No. I think it would have only been enough to blow the tail off the plane like it did to that one that crashed in NY a month ago.
One of the things I've read in the reports on this incident was regarding the explosive C-4. C-4 will burn if lit by a match (it was used by GIs to heat water and such in small amounts), but with an additive (and I don't know what additive that would be) it can be made to detonate with exposure to flame. Acetone could be the high-heat source to cause the explosives detonate, rather than to just burn.
The sedative, and, presumably, the needle, was in the on-flight medical kit.
In Iceland, they didn't even bother with us, since we'd already "cleared" a security check. Once in the states, however, I was jacked up at every stop.
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