The Attack and Aftermath
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Police: Flight suspect had explosives
Associated Press
12/23/01
BOSTON — A substance in the sneakers of a passenger whose attempts to ignite them forced a jetliner to land in Boston has tested positive for explosives, The Associated Press has learned.
The man on Paris-to-Miami-bound American Airlines Flight 63 had tried to light an "improvised explosive'' in his shoes Saturday, but flight attendants and fellow passengers subdued him, witnesses and authorities said. The Boeing 767, escorted by military jets, landed safely in Boston.
The suspect, taken into custody by the FBI, was to be charged with interfering with a flight crew, according to a law enforcement official who spoke on condition of anonymity.
Another law enforcement official, also speaking on condition of anonymity, said Sunday that a preliminary test of a substance in the man's shoes was positive for explosives. "There will be further tests to determine exactly what he had,'' the official said.
Police in France on Sunday identified the suspect as Tariq Raja and said he was a Sri Lankan national.
An official with the French Border Police, speaking on condition of anonymity, said the 28-year-old Raja boarded the American Airlines flight using a British passport under the name Richard Colvin Reid.
After the man tried to light a fuse protruding from his shoe, a flight attendant intervened and the 6-foot-4 suspect resisted and bit her, authorities said.
Passengers subdued the man, some taking off their own belts to secure him into his seat, officials said. Two doctors used the airplane's onboard medical kit to sedate him, and the man's shoe was removed.
"When he was attempted to be subdued, he said he was wired,'' said Thomas Kinton, interim executive director of the Massachusetts Port Authority, which runs the airport.
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Associated Press reporters John Solomon in Washington and Pamela Sampson in Paris contributed to this report.