UPDATE 746PM:
Congressman Pete King Via FOX:
This was a new device capable of "Ctastrophic Results", and is undetectable.
ABC News is reporting that a Nigerian man tried to set off a crude Bomb on Northwest Flight 253, from Amsterdam to Detroit this afternoon.
"The man said he was directed by al Qaeda to explode a small device in flight, over U.S. soil, ABC News has learned. Authorities have no corroboration of that information, and the credibility of the suspect's statements are being questioned, officials said.
The man was apparently already on the government's no-fly list of suspected terrorists, according to a senior intelligence official.
"The subject is claiming to have extremist affiliation and that the device was acquired in Yemen along with instructions as to when it should be used," a federal situational awareness bulletin stated.
http://abcnews.go.com/...
Update 5.41 PM:
AP News Alert: U.S. intelligence official: Passenger on Detroit flight was attempting to blow up plane.
This is breaking News, I'll add more as it comes...
Another UPDATE @5:54PM, this from The Toronto Star:
Passenger tried to blow up U.S. flight: Official
A senior U.S. counterterror official says a passenger aboard a Delta Air Lines flight in Detroit was planning to blow up the plane but the explosive device failed.
TStar has a photo of the Aircraft on a tarmac, here:
http://media.thestar.topscms.com/...
More from FOX:
Several people were hurt and one person was admitted to the University of Michigan Medical Center at Ann Arbor, hospital spokeswoman Tracy Justice said. An emergency was declared aboard the flight, operated as Northwest flight 253, according to a Federal Aviation Administration spokesperson.
All 278 passengers on the Airbus A330 wide-body jet, which landed at 11:53 a.m. local time, have since deplaned at Detroit Metropolitan Wayne County Airport, Delta spokesperson Susan Elliott said.
"Out of an abundance of caution, the plane was moved to a remote area where the plane and all baggage are currently being rescreened. A passenger is in custody and passengers are being interviewed," the Transportation Security Administration said in a statement.
More now from MSNBC as of 5:04Pm:
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/...
A 23-year-old Nigerian man tried to light a powdery substance aboard a Northwest Airlines flight before landing in Detroit on Friday, a senior U.S. counterterrorism official told NBC News.
Two people noticed the attempt and a third person jumped on the man and subdued him, an airline official told NBC News.
The man was subdued by the flight crew of Flight 253 from Amsterdam, one counterterrorism official said. The official said the man left Lagos, Nigeria, on Thursday, then boarded the Northwest Flight 253 in Amsterdam on Friday.
MORE @ 530PM::
Delta spokeswoman Susan Chana Elliott said that "as the plane was getting ready to land" in Detroit "a passenger caused a disturbance" by trying to ignite what was reported to be firecrackers. He was "subdued immediately." Northwest is a wholly-owned subsidiary of Delta.