Explosives smuggled on flight enough for ‘major disaster’

By Steve Leblanc

Associated Press

BOSTON – Explosive devices that a man allegedly smuggled aboard an airliner in his sneakers were strong enough to cause serious damage, and would have created a “major disaster” if detonated, the FBI said today.

The suspect, identified by authorities as Richard C. Reid, was ordered held in federal custody today pending a bail hearing. Authorities said they had no evidence to link Reid to Osama bin Laden’s terror network.

He has used at least two other names and his true identity remained unclear.

The scraggly haired Reid appeared before U.S. Magistrate Judge Judith Dein, sitting alone and dressed in an orange prison jumpsuit and prison-issued plastic sandals. He showed little emotion, and when asked if he understood the charge – intimidation or assault of a flight crew – he answered quietly: “Yeah.”

Reid, 28, asked for a court-appointed attorney and was ordered held pending a bail hearing Friday. If convicted, he could be sentenced to 20 years in prison. The FBI said more charges are likely.

During an American Airlines flight from Paris to Miami on Saturday, two flight attendants and at least a half-dozen passengers grabbed Reid and used belts to strap him into his seat after he allegedly tried to touch a lit match to a fuse protruding from one of his shoes. The Boeing 767 airliner, carrying 183 passengers and 14 crew members, was escorted to Boston by two fighter jets.

One passenger who helped subdue the man, Kwame James of Trinidad, said that when other passengers asked Reid why he did it, “He just kind of smiled and didn’t say too much.”

He said Reid told one passenger: “Don’t worry. You’ll see.”

Investigators would not identify the type of explosive material they said was found in devices in Reid’s sneakers, but said preliminary FBI tests determined the devices were functional.

“It would have resulted in significant damage and we did avert a major disaster,” said Charles Prouty, the special agent in charge of the FBI’s Boston office.

Reid will undergo a routine psychiatric evaluation, said jail spokesman Michael Seele in Plymouth.

“He’s been very compliant,” Seele said. “He’s been very cooperative.”

Prouty said the FBI was investigating whether Reid had links to bin Laden’s al-Qaida, and hasn’t ruled anything out. But a government official in Washington, speaking on condition of anonymity, said investigators had nothing to link Reid to the terror network.

The name Reid appears on the defendant’s passport, issued Dec. 7 by the British embassy in Brussels. French authorities initially identified him as a Sri Lankan named Tariq Raja, but a French official said today that investigators there consider him a British national, and U.S. Attorney Michael Sullivan said the passport appeared legitimate. Reid also has gone by the name Abdel Rahim.

Reid met with an officer from the British Consulate in Boston just before today’s hearing. The meeting is standard for anyone presumed to be British and charged with a serious crime, said consulate press officer Terri Evans.

“The issue of confirming his identity and nationality is part of the investigation with Scotland Yard and FBI,” Evans said. “We’ll go with the assumption he is British unless we learn something to the contrary.”

Airports around the country and in Europe boosted security following the incident. Some are requiring passengers to send their shoes through X-ray machines. Paris airports increased the number of bomb-sniffing dogs.

Walk-through X-ray machines used in the United States to screen passengers for weapons can’t detect plastic explosives, and most passengers and their carry-on bags aren’t checked for explosives by other means, such as bomb-sniffing dogs.

While Congress has ordered that U.S. airlines have a system by Jan. 18 to inspect all checked baggage for explosives, walk-through devices that could detect them on passengers are still in the development stage.

During the flight, Reid, who was sitting behind the wing in the coach section, lit a match, but put it in his mouth when confronted by flight attendant Hermis Moutardier, the FBI said in an affidavit.

Moutardier told the captain and returned to see Reid with a match held to the tongue of his sneaker, then noticed a wire protruding from the shoe. She tried to grab the sneaker, but Reid allegedly pushed her to the floor and she screamed for help.

Another flight attendant, Cristina Jones, intervened and Reid bit her hand, authorities said.

Moutardier threw water in his face and other passengers reached Reid and subdued him, agents said.