Nigerian sets off explosion in US jet; White House sees Qaida plot

Washington, Dec. 26: US authorities believe an incident involving a small explosion aboard a Delta-Northwest Airlines flight to Detroit on Friday was an attempted act of terrorism, a White House official said.

The Transportation Security Administration said the person responsible for the incident was taken into custody and the plane, which departed from Amsterdam, had landed safely in Detroit.

"We believe this was an attempted act of terrorism," a White House official told Reuters on condition of anonymity. President Barack Obama is on vacation in Hawaii and was monitoring the situation.

CNN said some sort of "small explosive device" had detonated inside the passenger cabin, and a fire warning light had gone on. Two passengers had received minor injuries, Delta said.

The aircraft had been moved to a remote area at Detroit's airport where the plane and all baggage were being rescreened, the TSA said.

The aircraft, Northwest Airlines 253, was an Airbus 330 carrying about 278 passengers. Delta Air Lines has taken over Northwest.

Representative Peter King, who sits on the House of Representatives Homeland Security Committee, said the explosive device was "fairly sophisticated," and the suspect was a 23-year-old Nigerian.

"When it did go off, he himself was seriously injured. He has third degree burns. ... It appears to be different from what we've encountered before," King told Fox News.

US officials said the passenger from Nigeria said he was acting on behalf of al-Qaida when he tried to blow up a flight Friday as it landed in Detroit.

Rep. King, identified the suspect as Abdul Mudallad, a Nigerian. King said the flight began in Nigeria and went through Amsterdam en route to Detroit.

One of the US intelligence officials said the explosive device was a mix of powder and liquid. It failed when the passenger tried to detonate it.

The passenger was being questioned Friday evening. The motive of the Christmas Day attack was not immediately clear.

The incident occurred as Northwest Airlines Flight 253, an Airbus 330 carrying 278 passengers, was making its final descent to Detroit.

Some passengers received minor injuries, including the person who sparked the incident.

"The passengers are being questioned as part of the investigation and the plane is being searched for similar reasons," the airline said.