Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab, instructed by Al-Qaida to blow up Northwest Airlines

On Friday (December 25), a Nigerian passenger of Northwest Airlines said he was acting on al-Qaida’s instructions, tried to blow up the plane as it was landing in Detroit. “We believe this was an attempted act of terrorism,” a White House official said. Luckily, Jasper Schuringa, another passenger inside the plane told CNN that he helped to subdue and isolate Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab with the aid of the cabin crew and manage to prevent him from detonating the explosives.

There was nothing out of the ordinary until the flight was on final approach to Detroit, said Federal Aviation Administration spokeswoman Elizabeth Isham Cory. That is when the pilot declared an emergency and landed without incident shortly thereafter, Cory said in an e-mail message. The plane landed at 11:51 a.m. EST.

One of the U.S. intelligence officials said the explosive device was a mix of powder and liquid. It failed when the Jasper Schuringa tried to avoid explosives from detonating. “We encourage those with future travel plans to stay in touch with their airline and to visit http://www.tsa.gov for updates,” Homeland Security Department said in a statement. Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano has been briefed on the incident and is closely monitoring the situation. The department encouraged travelers to be observant and aware of their surroundings and report any suspicious behavior to law enforcement officials.