http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/americas/8430612.stm

Detroit airliner incident 'was failed bomb attack'


The plane was carrying 278 passengers


An incident on an airliner arriving in the US city of Detroit from Amsterdam in the Netherlands was a failed bomb attack, senior US officials say.
Sources say a man injured himself trying to ignite an explosive device on the jet with 278 passengers on board but nobody else was seriously hurt.
In custody, the suspect said he had been acting on behalf of al-Qaeda, a police source told AP news agency.
President Barack Obama has ordered increased security for air travel.


We heard a little pop, then a bit of a smoke and then some flames and yelling and screaming and then somebody said the guy was subdued




Eyewitness aboard the jet



The White House spokesman Bill Burton said the president was monitoring the situation.
US and Dutch media report that the suspect is a Nigerian national studying in London.
Northwest Airlines Flight 253 had been coming in to land at Detroit Metropolitan Airport on Friday afternoon when the incident occurred.
'Taped to his leg'
Reports quote officials as saying the suspect seems to have tried to ignite some kind of incendiary device.

A passenger said the man had been severely burned on one leg, and a fire extinguisher was used at one point.
Another passenger, Syed Jafri, told AP he had been seated three rows behind the suspect and had seen a glow and noticed a smoke smell.
Then, he said, "a young man behind me jumped on him".
"Next thing you know, there was a lot of panic," Mr Jafri added.
As the suspect was being tackled, he was reportedly shouting and a passenger said she had heard the word "Afghanistan".
Another unnamed passenger heard a "little pop", then saw "a bit of a smoke and then some flames".
A robot could be seen examining the plane with an official nearby

After "yelling and screaming", the passenger added, "they took him out and it was really quick".
The suspect later told the US authorities he had had explosive powder taped to his leg and used a syringe of chemicals to mix with the powder that was to cause explosion, the ABC television network reports.
Another US intelligence official quoted by AP said an explosive device had been used consisting of a "mix of powder and liquid".
Peter King, who sits on the US House of Representatives Homeland Security Committee, reported details of the incident in interviews for US TV channels.

"He [the suspect] has third-degree burns," he said.
Mr King, a New York Republican, said the suspect appeared to have "al-Qaeda connections, certainly extremist terrorist connections".
The FBI and the Federal Aviation Administration are investigating, and a robot was used to check the plane at one stage.
At least one passenger was taken to the University of Michigan Medical Center in Ann Arbor.