High Explosive PETN Used In Failed Flight 253 Terror Plot

PETN, a high explosive, was used in the failed terror attack aboard Northwest Airlines flight 253 yesterday according to a US Justice Department indictment. The U.S. charged a 23-year-old Nigerian man with attempting to destroy a Northwest Airlines aircraft on its final approach to Detroit Metropolitan Airport on Christmas Day, and with placing a destructive device on the aircraft, the Justice Department announced.

“FBI agents recovered what appear to be the remnants of the syringe from the vicinity of Abdulmutallab’s seat, believed to have been part of the device,” the released added.

Read the six-page criminal complaint here. Here’s the text of the Justice Department release:

PETN used in failed flight 253 terror plot