Timeline of Terror: Clues in Bomber Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab's Past

 

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Dec. 25, 2009 The plot is put in motion Abdulmutallab flies from Nigeria to Amsterdam, where he boards Flight 253 bound for Detroit. He paid for his $2,831 ticket in cash and carried no luggage. The 80 grams of the high-explosive chemical PETN strapped inside the crotch of his underwear went undetected. Abdulmutallab attempted to blow up the airline as it approached the airport, but the detonator failed to work and instead, Abdulmutallab's pants caught on fire. He was quickly subdued by other passengers.

Aftermath President Obama publicly addresses the incident for the first time on Monday as al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula claims responsibility for the attack and threatened more such plots. On Tuesday, Obama acknowledges security failures in the case of Abdulmutallab, saying the intelligence community had information that could have and should have been pieced together. Preliminary reports of the reviews Obama has ordered will be sent to the president Thursday.