US News

Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab has hearing with US judge at hospital

Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab, the suspect in the attempted bombing of a Detroit-bound plane on Christmas, was charged Saturday with attempting to destroy aircraft and with placing a destructive device on an aircraft, the Department of Justice (DoJ) said in a statement.

U.S. District Judge Paul Borman read Abdulmutallab his charges in a conference room on Saturday at the University of Michigan Medical Center in Ann Arbor, where he is being treated for burns.

Agents brought Abdulmutallab into the room in a wheelchair. He had a blanket over his lap and wore a green hospital robe.

The judge asked Abdulmutallab if he understood the charges against him. He responded in English: “Yes, I do.”

Abdulmutallab, a 23-year-old Nigerian national with reported links to al-Qaeda, was subdued before his attack could be fully carried out and the plane landed Friday without fatalities.

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Investigation of the incident was still ongoing but a preliminary FBI analysis found the device contained the explosive material PETN, or pentaerythritol, the DoJ said. FBI agents also uncovered a syringe from the aircraft, which is believed to have been part of the explosive device.

A government official told Fox News Saturday that Abdulmutallab deliberately chose seat 19A, which, according to the official, is above the plane’s fuel tanks and wing and next to the skin of the aircraft.

In the event of an explosion, the official said, there is a high likelihood that it would be accelerated by the fuel tank, increasing the chance that the plane’s structure would be damaged and the plane would be brought down.

The official said when homeland security officials analyze attempted plane attack plots, the suspect’s seat selection is one of the first things they check.

Interviews conducted with passengers onboard Northwest Flight 253 revealed Abdulmutallab spent nearly 20 minutes in the lavatory prior to the incident. After returning to his seat, he allegedly told passengers in his vicinity that he was not feeling well before pulling a blanket over himself. Shortly thereafter, passengers reported hearing a popping sound near Abdulmutallab and seeing flames.

Passengers and crew then subdued Abdulmutallab and used blankets and fire extinguishers to put out the fire. The DoJ said Abdulmutallab was “calm and lucid throughout” and when a flight attendant asked him what he had had in his pocket, he replied “explosive device.”

“This alleged attack on a U.S. airplane on Christmas Day shows that we must remain vigilant in the fight against terrorism at all times,” Attorney General Eric Holder said Saturday in statement.

“Had this alleged plot to destroy an airplane been successful, scores of innocent people would have been killed or injured.”