Second Detroit plane scare draws tough response

  By Kevin Krolicki, Reuters

December 27, 2009 

Northwest Airlines Flight 253 sits on the tarmac at Detroit Metro Airport December 27, 2009 in this video grab provided by WDIV-TV in Detroit. CNN said crew members requested emergency assistance upon landing after reporting a disruptive passenger. The plane landed safely in Detroit. This was the same flight number as the one involved in the Christmas Day incident in which a Nigerian man was charged with attempting to blow up the Northwest passenger jet. Delta Air Lines has taken over Northwest.

Photograph by: WDIV-TV/Handout, Reuters

DETROIT -

When the first emergency alert from Detroit’s airport went out just before noon on Sunday, it looked oddly like a mistaken repeat of the scare from two days earlier: "Nigerian national caused disturbance on Flight 253."

As the Airbus 330 approached Detroit after a nine-hour flight from Amsterdam, a Nigerian who was sitting in the plane’s last row locked himself in the bathroom and refused to come out even when the flight crew ordered him to do so.

On Friday, another Nigerian man, Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab, was accused of trying to ignite an explosive on the same Delta Airlines flight to Detroit.

"My first reaction was that someone had hit the send button on the same message by mistake," Michael Conway, a spokesman for Detroit Metro Airport, recalled thinking when he saw the first emergency alert on a pager.

After Friday’s incident, U.S.-bound passengers have faced tighter security measures, including pat-downs and an order to stay seated during the last hour of their flight.

The Nigerian man on Sunday’s flight, who was not identified, was released after FBI agents determined he was genuinely sick and not involved in any plot against the plane.

But passengers among the 275 other people on board faced a tense wait while officials conducted interviews, bomb-sniffing dogs pored over luggage emptied onto an icy tarmac and police cordoned off the plane on a remote part of the airport.

After landing in Detroit, the Nigerian man was led out in handcuffs by FBI agents while police with automatic weapons surrounded the Northwest plane, passengers said.

"Everybody was scared, freaked out. We were all just shaking," said Niranjanar Kumar, who was flying back to his home in Michigan after a visit to Delhi.

Other passengers said they had no indication of anything unusual until the plane approached Detroit.

At that point, two undercover air marshals identified themselves and went to the rear of the plane to join the flight crew outside the bathroom, several passengers said.

Passengers were taken in six buses to a large waiting area of the Detroit airport and barred from using cellphones while all the baggage was searched. Some of the travellers were interviewed.

"It took four hours for them to decide what what to do with us," said Ken Raub, a Detroit-area resident returning from Moscow where he and his wife adopted a baby girl. "It was a little rough."

FBI agents were still at the Detroit airport as part of a continuing investigation of the Christmas Day incident and joined customs, border patrol agents and airport police and fire crews in responding to the scare, officials said.

One flight attendant appeared to faint and was treated on the plane after it landed, said Jane Jeronimus, an Australian passenger who sat in business class.

Hitesh Desai, who was traveling from Bombay to Detroit, said he was unaware that anything was unusual until the plane landed and he saw all the police waiting.

"This was just a normal flight," he said. "It did feel kind of surreal while it was happening."

http://www.canada.com/news/Second+Detroit+plane+scare+draws+tough+response/2384501/story.html

Not again: Passenger aboard Northwest Flight 253 taken into custody

BY Caroyln Chin In Detroit AND Helen Kennedy DAILY NEWS WRITERS

Originally Published:Sunday, December 27th 2009, 2:36 PM Updated: Monday, December 28th 2009, 7:41 AM

A Nigerian businessman who locked himself inside a bathroom on the very same Amsterdam to Detroit flight targeted by a Nigerian bomber on Christmas Day triggered a full-on crisis Sunday.

The pilot of Northwest Airlines Flight 253 requested an emergency landing at Detroit, the plane was quarantined in a remote area of the tarmac and members of the Joint Terrorism Task Force rushed aboard.

The threat turned out to be digestive.

The man used the bathroom several times during the trip and refused to come out even as flight attendants banged on the door as the plane prepared to land, airport officials said.

"Indications at this time are that the individual's behavior is due to legitimate illness, and no other suspicious behavior or materials have been found," said Homeland Security Department spokeswoman Sara Kuban.

The scare shows how fear once again rules the skies since Northwest Flight 253 was nearly blown out of the sky on Christmas Day by a Nigerian with explosives sewn into his underpants.

Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab, 23, was tackled by passengers and did damage only to himself when his bloomers bomb burst into flames instead of exploding.

Passengers on Sunday's flight from Amsterdam said security checks at the busy Schiphol Airport were thorough, with agents going through every piece of luggage and carry-on items by hand.

They said the frequent bathroom visitor who caused the scare was not particularly disruptive.

But he "didn't want to stay in his seat," said Henna Solamaa, a traveler from Finland.

Otherwise, "he was quite calm," said Vera Vanderzee, 23, of Amsterdam, who was sitting in front of the man.

She counted 16 security vehicles outside the plane at the Detroit airport and saw the suspect being led away in handcuffs. He was later released.

Police officers came onboard when the plane arrived at the gate, and the 257 passengers and 12 crew were held and questioned for about an hour.

Their luggage was spread out on the tarmac and bomb-sniffing dogs went over each bag.

Vanderzee ended up missing a connection, but she took it in stride. "It was not a good situation, but the way they solved it was a good solution," she said.

The National Securit Council chief of staff notified President Obama, who is vacationing in Hawaii, shortly after the plane landed.

It wasn't the only false alarm: The sky was full of jitters after Abdulmutallab's foiled attack.

A Lufthansa flight bound from Frankfurt for Detroit made an unscheduled emergency stop in Iceland after it was discovered that the owner of a suitcase in the hold was not on the flight.

The Airbus A330 diverted to Reykjavik, Iceland, where the 160 passengers and crew remained onboard while the luggage was inspected. Nothing suspicious was found.

"It seems the passenger in question somehow missed the plane after having checked in," said airport spokesman Fridthor Eydal in Reykjavik.