Northwest Airlines-NWA’s (subsidiary of Delta Air Lines) (Minneapolis/St. Paul) flight NW 253 was far from usually slow Christmas flight yesterday (December 25) as the crew of Airbus A330-323X N820NW (msn 859) attempted to land at the Detroit hub.

According to the AP, “A Nigerian man who said he was an agent for al-Qaida tried to blow up a Northwest Airlines plane Friday as it was preparing to land in Detroit, but travelers who smelled smoke and heard what sounded like firecrackers rushed to subdue him, the passengers and federal officials said.

Flight 253 with 278 passengers and 11 crew members aboard was about 20 minutes from the airport when passengers heard popping noises, witnesses said. At least one person climbed over others and jumped on the man. Shortly afterward, the suspect was taken to the front of the plane with his pants cut off and his legs burned, a passenger said. Law enforcement officials said the burns indicated the explosive was strapped to his legs.

One U.S. intelligence official said the explosive device was a mix of powder and liquid. It failed when the passenger tried to detonate it.”

Here is the full news report:

news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20091226/ap_on_re_us/us_airliner_disturbance

Here is the statement from Delta:

finance.yahoo.com/news/Delta-Air-Lines-Issues-prnews-4002625269.html?x=0&.v=1