Tests verify shoes hid explosives

Jet passenger has no known ties to terrorist groups, authorities

12/24/2001

From Wire Reports

In a case rekindling fears of airborne terrorism, preliminary tests confirmed Sunday that a man apprehended aboard a Paris-to-Miami flight had explosives in his sneakers that he apparently tried to detonate before crew members and passengers pounced on him.

Federal investigators said the man, whose identity remained unclear, had no known connection to al-Qaeda or other terrorist groups. He was listed in court papers Sunday as Richard Colvin Reid, the name on his British passport. French authorities identified him as a Sri Lankan named Tariq Raja, adding that he has also used the name Abdel Rahim.

In London, Scotland Yard investigators said they thought the suspect was a British citizen, and there were reports that he might be of Jamaican ancestry.

The suspect told the FBI that he was a recent convert to Islam, congressional and law enforcement officials said. An FBI official said the man has a criminal record for minor infractions in Britain but nothing related to terrorism.

French police opened an investigation Sunday to determine how Mr. Reid eluded increased security measures at Charles de Gaulle airport outside Paris, where American Airlines Flight 63 took off Saturday. The flight was rerouted to Boston under U.S. fighter jet escort, and by Sunday most of the shaken passengers had flown to Miami.

In response, the Federal Aviation Administration ordered airlines and airports to guard against passengers boarding a plane with explosives hidden in their shoes. The FAA had warned Dec. 11 that terrorists might try to hijack a plane in the United States or Europe and hide weapons in their shoes. That circular was not made public.

Security guards at airport checkpoints have equipment that detects traces of explosives on carry-on baggage, and this technology also can be used to check shoes of passengers.

Mr. Reid, 28, was charged Sunday in a federal criminal complaint with intimidation or assault of a flight crew causing interference with its duties. He faces up to 20 years in prison if convicted.

Passengers on the flight said they had noticed the tall, ponytailed man standing alone and stone-faced before boarding.

"He had a blank look," said Nicholas Green, a 27-year-old French trader. "The people who had seen him remembered him."

The episode, which occurred amid heightened airport security after the Sept. 11 hijackings, threatened to deal another setback to the financially reeling airline and travel industries.

In a Sunday afternoon message to American's pilots, American's vice president of flight, Robert Kudwa, said the airline had singled out the suspect for further scrutiny.

"Our crew did a spectacular job of being vigilant, observant, and executing the appropriate action," Mr. Kudwa said.

The U.S. attorney's office in Boston said Sunday that preliminary FBI tests showed "two functional improvised explosive devices" in the man's shoes. Massachusetts State Police said tests suggested that it was C-4, a powerful, military-grade plastic explosive that has been used in the past by al-Qaeda and other terrorist groups. The Wall Street Journal , however, reported that authorities don't think the explosives were C-4. The newspaper did not reveal the source of that information.

Logan International Airport in Boston adopted new security measures immediately, requiring boarding passengers to put their shoes through X-ray machines.

British officials said they were investigating whether Mr. Reid is a British citizen, whether the passport he was carrying is legitimate, and, if so, whether it was obtained using false documents.

French officials said the man boarded the plane at Charles de Gaulle airport Saturday, a day after he tried to board another trans-Atlantic flight.

'A worrying look'

Mr. Reid was rebooked for Saturday and designated a "selectee" by American, requiring him to undergo extra security checks.

Authorities said Mr. Reid also had only one small piece of carry-on luggage on Saturday's flight and was traveling on a one-way ticket. Airport passengers checking in for long-distance international flights without baggage are supposed to trigger a call from the airline check-in counter to police, France's Air and Frontier Police said Sunday. Apparently that procedure wasn't followed.

Mr. Reid underwent special "wanding" to check for weapons, and his carry-on bag was hand-checked. French officials raised questions about his name and nationality before he was allowed to board.

The French news agency Agence France-Presse quoted a French police source Sunday who said the man was "behaving bizarrely, was agitated, and had a worrying look."

Though high-tech screening machines can detect explosives inside checked and hand-carried luggage, the devices that check passengers are not sophisticated enough to find some bomb material, said Chris Yates, aviation security editor at Jane's Transport.

"It's only fairly recently that we've come across this phenomenon of suicide bombers, suicide hijackers, and the industry is not geared up to deal with those types of people," Mr. Yates said.

Police and customs checks at Charles de Gaulle are relatively lax compared with those in Germany or Britain, especially for passengers leaving the country, The New York Times reported. The airport has 12 bomb-sniffing dogs, but not enough to routinely sniff passengers. The frontier police have requested 100 such dogs.

Tension and chaos

The suspect, who was sitting behind the wing in the coach section of the Boeing 767, lighted a match, but put it in his mouth when confronted by flight attendant Hermis Moutardier, according to U.S. attorney Michael Sullivan's office.

Ms. Moutardier told the captain and returned to see Mr. Reid with a match held to the tongue of one of his high-top sneakers, then noticed a wire protruding from the shoe. She tried to grab the shoe, but Mr. Reid pushed her to the floor, and she screamed for help, authorities said.

Another flight attendant, Cristina Jones, intervened, and the 6-foot-4 assailant bit her, authorities said.

Several of the 185 passengers – acting on post-Sept. 11 instincts – responded from all over the plane, rushing to the flight attendants' aid.

One passenger said he reached over the seat and pulled the man's arms back. Several reportedly poured water on him, and one threatened him with a fire extinguisher.

"He was unbelievably strong ... almost possessed," said Kwame James, a 6-foot-8 basketball player from Trinidad and Tobago, who was sitting in the front of the plane and was among those recruited by flight attendants to hold the man down.

Some passengers frantically yanked safety belts from their seats and passed them forward. Others took their own belts from around their waists. Even thin earphone wire was used to tie the man up. Two French doctors sedated him using medicine taken from the airplane's first aid kit.

Sen. Richard Shelby of Alabama, the ranking Republican on the Senate Intelligence Committee, said officials were investigating whether the episode was an isolated event or part of a larger operation.

An FBI official said Mr. Reid told authorities that he "dreamed this up on his own."

Staff writer Terry Maxon contributed to this report.