August 20, 2025 • 55 mins
Over two decades after 9/11, the Transportation Security Administration is finally letting us keep our shoes on at airport security. But how did we get here? Join Alice and Zach as they dive deep into the three terrorist incidents that shaped modern airport security: Richard Reid's shoe bomb attempt, the 2006 transatlantic liquid bomb plot, and the underwear bomber. Discover the shocking intelligence failures, the heroic passengers who actually stopped these attacks, and how each incident led to the security measures we know today. This is Part 1 of our examination of America's most controversial federal agency.
Sources:
- "Transportation Security Administration" - Wikipedia
- "Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab" - Wikipedia
- "2006 transatlantic aircraft plot" - Wikipedia
- "Richard Reid" - Wikipedia
- "It Was Shoes On, No Boarding Pass Or ID. But Airport Security Forever Changed On 9/11" - David Schaper, NPR, September 10, 2021
- "A Look at How Airport Security Has Evolved Post 9-11" - Diane Gerace, Philadelphia International Airport, June 11, 2021
Find FINAL BOARDING CALL online:
- Website: finalboardingcallpodcast.com
- Instagram: @FinalBoardingCallPod
- Facebook: Final Boarding Call
Credits: Final Boarding Call is hosted by Alice Stern and Zach Stemas, researched and written by Alice Stern, produced and edited by Alice Stern and Zach Stemas.
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
(00:03):
picture this.
You are rushing through the airportlate for your flight, dreading
the long line of security, butthen something miraculous happens.
The TSA agent tells youto keep your shoes on.
After 19 years of removing shoes, theDepartment of Homeland Security has
(00:30):
suddenly decided that maybe just, maybewe don't need to take our shoes off
after all, today we are diving deepinto the three terrorist incidents that
shaped modern airport security, sostow your trade tables, fasten your seat
(00:51):
belts, and prepare for some turbulencebecause this is final boarding call.
Let me unmute you.
Yeah.
It's way more fun whenI'm unmuted, isn't it?
It is.
It's extra fun when you're noteating a cookie into the mic.
(01:12):
People like it.
Ugh.
People are freaky.
All right.
Hello and welcome to a special two-parter.
We're gonna let you know right upfront that this is a, a two-parter.
This is obviously a huge topic thatwe're gonna cover of final boarding call.
I am your disaster obsessed host, Alice.
(01:34):
And I am Zach.
Reluctant homebody.
I think I just saw a squirrelrun by and it distracted me.
Literally.
Squirrel.
Oh boy.
Okay.
We've got a lovelywhomping willow outside.
At least that's what Ithink of when I see it.
Well, I love that.
Okay.
I'm gonna real quick over our sources.
(01:54):
It might be that giant fly.
Yeah.
We have a huge fly that'sjust fly around us.
That's a big fly.
It's a big boy.
Okay.
We have the TSA Wikipedia page,uh, Wikipedia pages from all of
the attacks that we're going totalk about or attempted attacks.
We have an amazing NPRarticle by David Shaper.
(02:16):
We have an article by Diane Grace as well.
Before we dive into the attacks thatwe're gonna talk about today, let's
set the scene on September 10th, 2001.
Airport security was acompletely different world.
(02:36):
So Zach, I know that you didn't do atremendous amount of flying as a youth.
Um, I did zero.
Okay.
You did zero.
I did a lot.
Multiple flights a year, and Iremember having my nana, for example,
walk us to our gate when we wereleaving New Jersey and kiss us
(03:00):
goodbye as we got onto the airplane.
Obviously can't do that anymore, but youused to be able to go shopping inside of
an airport eat food inside of an airport.
It was a, essentially a mall with planes.
(03:21):
I like that.
Yeah, right.
Cool.
Fun, funky.
Okay.
The security checkpoint was run by privatecontractors hired by airlines, and these
contracts went to the lowest bidder.
So the screening process was basicallywalk through a metal detector, maybe
get your bag x-rayed, keep your shoeson, bring any amount of liquids that
(03:44):
you wanted, the FAA allowed knives
up to four inches long on the aircraft.
So that's wild.
That part's not that weird to me.
It's just a can knife.
Yeah.
But now they would like lose their shitif they saw you trying to bring a knife.
(04:05):
I one time got a cuticle tool removedout of my back, like the little metal
thing that has the hook on the end of it.
Weapon.
After nine 11, everythingchanged overnight.
The Aviation and Transportation SafetyAct created the TSA and they did it
(04:25):
in record time, hiring 55,000 securityscreeners in less than one year.
That's big.
55,000 people.
But what's fascinating is how the TSAapproach has been entirely reactive.
(04:47):
Every major security measure that weknow about today was implemented because
somebody tried to do some stupid shit.
So we're gonna walk through them.
We are literally going to go throughan exercise of like, think of the TSA
thing you have to do, and then we'regonna talk about why you have to do it.
(05:07):
There's always a warning label onstuff because somebody was dumb
enough to try to do that thing.
McDonald's has to write caution.
Your coffee is hot becausethat lady sued them.
Yeah.
And won.
All right, let's talk about why we needto take our shoes off and, and well
used to have to take our shoes off.
(05:27):
Richard Colvin Reed was born in London in1973 to a petty criminal father who was in
prison for car theft when Reed was born.
. He followed in his father's footstepsaccumulating Moore than 10 convictions
by his teens and serving timeat multiple juvenile facilities.
(05:52):
He was a graffiti writer whowent by n roll as part of a gang.
That sounds racist.
Okay.
Look, I'm very naive with like thestreet slang and whatnot, so I always
have to check it with you because thereare terms that I genuinely don't know.
Well, I'm gonna let you knowthat in roll is not one of 'em.
(06:12):
In 1992, while serving athree year sentence for street
robberies, Reed converted to Islam.
Upon his release in 1995, he initiallyjoined the moderate Brixton Mosque,
but by 1998, he had moved to theFinsbury Park Mosque in North London.
(06:35):
This mosque was headed by AbuhamAl Masri, an anti-American cleric,
described as the heart of theextremist Islamic culture in Britain.
Hmm.
Okay.
That just rolls right off the tongue.
At Finsbury Park Reed fell under theinfluence of what investigators called
(06:57):
terrorist talent spotters and handlers,which is very different than when
you're at the mall and somebody comesup to you and it's like, oh my God,
have you ever considered being a model?
And then they give you this cardand then you go to this scouting
thing and they tell you how forlike $15,000 you can become a model.
(07:18):
For me, it was never modeling, but Idid get scouted for like Disney Channel.
But it was a scam.
at Finsbury Park, Reed fell under theinfluence of what investigators called
terrorist talent, spotters and handlers,including De Jamal Behal, one of the
(07:39):
leaders of a Foiled 2001 suicide bombingplot against the American Embassy in Peli.
Reed spent 1999 and 2000 in Pakistanwhere he trained at terrorist camps.
In Afghanistan and he may haveattended an anti-American religious
(08:00):
training center as well unconfirmed,but it may have happened.
After returning to Britain, Reedtried to obtain duplicate passports
from British consulates abroad,which is a classic terrorist tactic
for creating false identities.
He lived and traveled across Europewhile maintaining communication through
(08:23):
an address in Pakistan which is where AlAda had been formed in the late 1980s.
Everybody hates America.
In November, 2001, Reed and anotherBritish terrorist named Sahi Badat
returned to Pakistan and reportedlytraveled over land to Afghanistan.
(08:47):
There they were given what investigatorscalled shoe bombs casual footwear
that had been adapted to be covertlysmuggled onto aircraft later.
I am curious to see whatthese would look like.
I know, yeah.
It was like, are they platform shoes?
Is there a bunch of space or is thisjust a normal rubber sold shoe and they
(09:09):
just manage some explosive in there.
They're just like 10 inch platform boots.
Yeah.
It's like, ah, bet you like this Boots.
Those people should still be stopped byTSA and to remove their shoes 'cause they
could actually have some stuff in there.
Oh boy.
If I saw somebody wearing anytime,honestly, that I see people
(09:29):
wearing those crazy platform shoes.
I'm just in awe of them.
I put on like a three inch highheel and I'm walking like Bambi
on ice, like it's horrible.
It's different to walk in a high heel thanit is to walk on big old platform shoes.
The platforms have you stillflat-footed, but up however many inches.
(09:54):
Okay.
There's a crazy season of America'sNext Top model where they have to
walk in some super nutty platformsand those girls, one of the girls I
think breaks her ankle walking in them.
It's not funny.
No, it's horrible and funny.
Okay.
Anyway, shoe bombs later forensicanalysis would show that both
(10:14):
bombs contained identical plasticexplosives and the detonator cords
had come from the same batch.
The cut mark on bad's cordexactly matched the cut on reeds.
So they were, essentially what thatmeans is they were coordinated exactly.
It was gonna be a coordinated attack onflights from Europe to the United States.
(10:38):
USA Reed returned to Europe inearly December, 2001, spent 10
days in Belgium, then On December16th, took a train to Paris.
His target was American Airlines Flight 63from Paris to Miami, December 21st, 2001.
(10:59):
Reed's first attempt.
Reid arrived at Charles Ol airportlooking disheveled and suspicious.
That is what Wikipediasaid, and I love it.
So left it in there,disheveled and suspicious.
His appearance was actually so concerningthat airline passenger screeners
(11:24):
delayed his boarding and referredhim to the French National Police.
Hmm.
He was questioned for hours by an ICTSagent and French police due to what
they described as evasive behaviorand a suspicious lack of luggage for
somebody who is flying across the world.
(11:47):
Didn't even have a backpack.
I travel, not planning on staying long.
Question mark.
Like that's weird.
Here's the crucial part, because Reed'sBritish passport was genuine and his
name wasn't on any terrorist watch list.
The police didn't x-ray himor use bomb sniffing dogs.
(12:08):
They had no legal authority todo more than just question him.
The extended questioning meant thathe missed flight 63, so he stayed
overnight at an airport hotel whileAmerican Airlines was allowed to
reissue him a ticket for the next day.
The 24 hour delay would provecrucial, but not in the way that
(12:31):
you might be thinking, Zach.
So now it is December 22nd, 2001.
It's almost Christmas.
It's almost Christmas.
Let's talk about anattempted terrorist attack.
So Reed returned to the airportand actually successfully boarded
American Airlines Flight 63.
(12:52):
So same flight, different day.
And this time he must haveshowered and shaved because he
got on the flight no problem.
He was wearing shoes packed with10 ounces of plastic explosive
in the hollowed out bottoms.
This is not a small amount.
Investigators later confirmed that itwas enough to blow a hole in the fuselage
(13:15):
and absolutely caused the plane to crash,which would've killed the 197 people
aboard sounds right After 20 minutes intothe flight after takeoff meal service.
Is happening.
They got right to it.
I feel like that's quite, I knowpassengers began complaining
(13:39):
about the smell of smoke.
Hmm.
What flight attendant?
Hermes moia.
Please forgive my French pronunciation,but I, I feel like it is her me, mu
(13:59):
All right.
French people.
Do I sound like I know what I'm saying?
No.
Zach is shaking his head.
Be nice to me.
I'm doing my best.
I took French.
You do not sound like you knowwhat you're talking about.
How would you pronounce it?
I don't know.
I can't see it.
It's this,
would you take one year of French?
I think you know it all.
Oh, how come you never speak French to me?
(14:21):
Okay.
Anyway, what name is that?
Um, I believe you would stillpronounce the S on that, so
I think it would be Hamis.
Mure.
All right, Zach.
Sounds better for sure.
Whatever.
Anii.
Okay.
Anyway, this wonderful flightattendant thought that she smelt a
burnt match and she walked through theaisles trying to locate the source.
(14:45):
She found Reed sitting alone neara window attempting to light a
match, which probably looked so emo.
You know, it's like, imaginethe emo get on the airplane.
Nobody understands me.
I'm sorry.
I can't be perfect.
(15:05):
Oh my gosh.
You know what's funny, Zach?
For whatever reason I have apronunciation for her name, I just
put it, I, I skipped the first time.
Her name is mentioned and Ihave the pronunciation as muta,
which I think is exactly what you said.
Muta.
I mean, I probably didn't ruleout the D as much, but yeah,
(15:26):
you're supposed to di di.
Alright.
Anyway, she warns him that smokingis not allowed on the aircraft,
and Reed promises to stop my bad.
Oops, nobody cuts me.
But a few minutes later she foundhim, leaned over in his seat yet again
(15:47):
when she asks him what he's doing.
Reed grabbed her in that moment.
She could see one shoe in hislap, a fuse leading into the
shoe, and a lip match in his hand.
Reed was seconds away from detonating,a bomb that would've killed everyone.
Quick blow out.
(16:08):
Well, what happens next was chaos.
Several passengers realizing what washappening, worked together to subdue
the six foot four, 215 pound read.
I would like to say two 15 is a lot,but I tip the scales a little further.
(16:28):
So who am I?
Judge.
You're a great guy to have Onplanes good at restraining.
They restrained him using plastichandcuffs, seatbelt extensions, leather
waist belts, and headphone cords.
Which is so MacGyver like, just, I feellike any one of those would've sufficed,
but instead they're like, use all of them.
Uh, if there's a lunatic tryingto blow up the plane, I will, I
(16:51):
will do anything, use everything.
He got an off-duty doctor, found atranquilizer in the aircraft's emergency
medical kit and in it said tight.
Let me shoot him with it.
Yes.
Did they administeredit to him to sedate him?
The flight was immediately divertedto Logan International Airport in
Boston, which was the closest USairport where Reed was arrested.
(17:15):
The moment the plane landed,but here is the key question,
why didn't the bomb explode?
He didn't get the match to it.
The answer reveals just how closethis attack came to succeeding.
The explosive device had been designedto work and Reed had successfully
gotten it through airport security.
(17:35):
The only reason that 197people survived was pure luck.
The rainy weather in Paris throughcombined with Reed's foot sweat
during his nervous 24 hour delay hadmade the fuse too damp to ignite.
(17:56):
What that explains why I haveto try, he had to try multiple,
they selt the match first.
Mm-hmm.
Which is a sign that nobody had noticedhim trying to light it the first
time, and he's probably sitting therepanicking just like, what the fuck, man?
Get this going crazy.
If he had been able to get on that firstflight, he likely would've blown it up.
(18:18):
Yep.
The attack failed due to meteorology.
So we do have to give kudosto the security that flagged
him as being sketchy, sketchy.
You know, so that,that's something I guess.
But he still was not written down onlike a do not fly list, and he was issued
(18:39):
another ticket, no questions asked.
The legal aftermath, in case you'rewondering what happened to him was swift.
He was charged with nineterrorism related counts.
Though one was later dismissedbecause the congressional definition
of vehicle didn't include aircraft.
Yeah.
Everything is so dumb andnuance and fine print nuance.
(19:03):
It turns out it doesn'tmatter what country you're in.
Like he should have been, you know,they had reasonable suspicion for
this guy enough to pull him to theside before his first flight, but they
weren't allowed to do anything about it.
How stupid is that?
Because of red tape?
It's, it's wild for sure.
So on October 4th, 2002.
(19:25):
So this is very quick becausethis is less than a year since the
attacks, so they're like gettinghim through this judicial system.
October 4th, he pleaded guiltyto the remaining eight counts.
During his sentencing hearing,which was on July 31st,
(19:46):
2003, he showed zero remorse.
He declared himself an enemy ofthe United States, and he said that
he was a soldier under the commandof Osama bin Laden Federal Judge
William Young was not having it.
End quote, uh, he sentencedReed to three consecutive life
(20:07):
sentences plus another 110 years.
Just to add a little, just to cherry ontop, just to cherry on top, and of course
that is all without parole, and he toldhim, you are not a soldier in any army.
You are a terrorist.
To call you a soldier givesyou far too much stature.
I would've more just gone.
You're actually not a terrorist at all.
(20:29):
You're just a prisoner.
No.
Are, are you ready for what Ifound to be one of the craziest
facts of this whole story?
Tell me he is currently servinghis sentence in Florence, Colorado.
Yeah.
That's like the biggest maximum security.
Okay.
Well, there's lots of terrible,terrible people in this state.
(20:49):
If you can believe it.
There are, it's considered asupermax facility that holds the
most dangerous federal prison nurse.
Yeah.
I just wasn't sure if you knew about it.
I was like, I can't wait to tellZach about this crazy prison.
I've driven past it.
I've stared at it all kind of stuff.
Oh, yeah.
No, I mean, I'm, I'm sure I have two.
It's in Florence.
Okay.
(21:10):
The Ts a's response to the shoe bomberwas immediate, but initially modest.
They began asking passengers tovoluntarily remove their shoes, ice maker.
Wow.
But this was just the beginning, Zach.
The shoe bomber had demonstratedthat terrorists could conceal
explosives in everyday items.
(21:33):
So let's see.
And a pretty small package isenough to do some serious damage.
So Zach, what is another TSArule that you think about?
Um, they make me take off mybelt even though I have TSA pre.
Okay.
Uh, annoying.
That is annoying.
And we will actually get to a storythat is adjacent to that, but I
(21:57):
was more so thinking the threeounce liquid rule, which I hate.
It does seem absurd, but at leastthat one I've always understood, like
you can have some liquids that canmix together and make an explosion.
It doesn't, it takes what, twodifferent liquids together?
Might be three is the minimum.
(22:18):
I don't remember.
I'm not a scientist.
Well, let's talk about liquids.
Fast forward to 2006, and BritishIntelligence was conducting what
would become the UK's largestsurveillance operation in history.
They were tracking a sophisticatedterrorist plot that made Reed's
(22:41):
shoe bomb look like amateur hour.
The operation began when Britishauthorities started monitoring a man
named Abdullah Ahmed Ali, who had recentlyreturned from Pakistan in June, 2006.
When investigators covertly openedhis luggage, they found something
(23:03):
concerning powdered soft drinkmix, specifically Tang and a large
number of batteries, love Tang.
This combination raised immediatesuspicions about bomb making materials,
so they Googled real quick, is Tangexplosive as explosive to your intestines?
(23:31):
Absolutely.
What followed was an intensivesurveillance operation involving
220 additional officers from Jesus.
Yeah, from multiple police forces.
They watched as Assad Soir.
From high y comb, sorry.
Our, our British people madepurchases that seemed inconsistent
(23:55):
with normal daily needs.
That always reminds me of like whena, when a jilted husband goes to
the store and buys like a shovel,a tarp, bleach, and you're like,
duct tape and a rope duct tape.
You're like, Ugh, whatcha doing?
And a hammer.
Yeah.
So let's talk about thesketchy stuff that he's buying.
(24:16):
On one occasion, surveillance officerswatched him dispose of empty hydrogen
peroxide bottles at a recycling center.
Hydrogen peroxide, while legallyavailable as hair bleach, is also
a key component in explosives.
When MI five agents covertly entered aflat being used by Ali, they discovered
(24:40):
what appeared to be a bomb factory.
They installed hiddencameras and microphones.
Then they watched and they waited.
It's like real life swat.
On August 3rd, 2006, thesurveillance team hit the jackpot.
They filmed Ali and TabirHussein constructing explosive
(25:01):
devices out of drink bottles.
The setup was sophisticated.
They were using legitimateoasis and Lucozade, Lucozade,
Lucozade sports drink bottles.
I'm wondering if that'ssomething that was.
Not, I bet they were all orange flavored.
Well, think about to putthe tang in there with it.
(25:24):
Mm-hmm.
So it would look like that's what it was.
Oh, we're about to get to the tongue.
Uh, but they replaced thecontents with a deadly mixture.
The plan was diabolical in its simplicity.
The terrace would board flights curingwhat appeared to be normal, unopened
soft drink bottles inside the originalcontents had been replaced with
(25:45):
hydrogen peroxide mixed with Tang drinkpowder to match the original color of
the sports drinks ing bad bang bad.
They would inject additional explosivematerials into the bottles using syringes
without ever removing the bottle caps.
The entry holes would be resealed, makingthe bottles appear completely normal.
(26:09):
To security.
The actual detonation would come fromimprovised explosive devices hidden
inside aa, battery casings connected tothe flash units of disposable cameras.
Ingenious.
It's smart.
I mean, that is really smart.
(26:32):
What a waste of talent.
Like it really is so sad.
You're dead set on killing a bunchof people, but you, if you actually
put that brain to some good use, itcould do a lot of good for the world.
Doing good doesn't pay well.
I don't think being a terroristpays particularly well either.
I don't know.
Maybe they get like a year of really goodliving and their family's taken care of.
(26:56):
Well, I, maybe not.
No, I, I, I don't know.
And I, I mean, I, yeah, I don't know.
They do it for the passion.
The process would happen.
Mid-flight board, the plane withthe disguised liquid explosives,
assembled the detonator components inthe bathroom, the aircraft bathroom,
and then detonate the devices.
(27:18):
Each bomber would essentially buildtheir bomb during the flight itself.
The target list was ambitiousand absolutely terrifying.
The plotters had researched sevenspecific flights, all departing
from London, Heathrow, to majorcities in the US and Canada.
If successful, this coordinated attackwould've killed over 2000 people.
(27:44):
Geez, across multipleaircraft in a single day.
I mean, that's nuts.
Surveillance officers later watchedAli spend two hours at an internet
cafe researching flight timetables andstudying airline security procedures.
The investigation had reachedwhat police called a critical
(28:05):
point, where they believed that anattack would be pretty imminent.
I don't know what more you want,like me, like booking a ticket.
It's, he seems pretty committed.
On August 9th, 2006, theBritish police intervened.
So in overnight raids across London,bi Birmingham, and High Wickham.
(28:27):
They arrested 24 suspects.
The key suspects were British-bornMuslims, some of Pakistani descent, and
several were recent converts to Islam.
The evidence recovered was extensive.
Police performed 69 searches ofresidences, businesses, vehicles, and open
(28:48):
spaces, and man did they hit the jackpot.
They found bomb making equipment,chemicals, digital evidence.
More than 400 computers, 200 cellphones, and 8,000 items of removable
storage media, which, for the babies.
It's an SD card.
(29:08):
It's, it's a memory stick.
CDs and DVDs.
Physical things.
What's a DVD From the computersalone they collected six terabytes
of data, which for 2006 it's a lot.
Is a lot.
It's a lot, a lot.
(29:29):
But there was controversy aboutthe timing of the arrests.
NBC News reported significantdisagreements between US and UK
authorities over when to move in.
According to their sources, senior Britishofficials contended that an attack was
actually not imminent because the suspectshad not purchased airline tickets and
(29:53):
some of them did not have passports.
Hmm.
British authorities wanted to continuesurveillance to gather more evidence
and identify additional conspirators.
However, US officials reportedlythreatened to use extra basically
extradition extraordinaryrendition on suspected ringleader
(30:13):
Rashid ruff in Pakistan, orpressure Pakistan to arrest him.
And then, you know, basicallythe US forced the UK's hand.
Well, I'm gonna be honest, I don'tcompletely disagree with the uk.
You, you have surveillance in the buildingwhere they have all the explosives and you
(30:35):
can just wait to see them start packingstuff up and be like, okay, now it's time.
Yeah, it's riskier, but it does give youa chance to get a whole lot more people.
It does.
And I feel like if they tookprecautions of making sure that those
people were barred from flying Yeah.
They were already flagged assoon as they bought a ticket.
(30:56):
Anything like that.
Mm-hmm.
Yeah, I agree with you.
The TSAs response was immediate.
So like, like anything with TSA, thesecond something happens, they're
like, boom, baby, we're on it.
On August 10th, 2006, they banned allliquids, gels and aerosols from carry
(31:17):
on bags, like everything, liquid waterbottles, coffee, shampoo, toothpaste,
which isn't even really a liquid.
It's a semi, yeah.
The, I'm curious, at what point did thatcome back into being a normal thing where
you could have like up to three ounces?
We'll talk about it because obviously thisis very extreme and it did not last long.
(31:41):
So an estimated 400,000 passengerswere affected on the first day,
and it cost airlines over 175million pounds as many ast 20,000
bags were misplaced at Heathrow.
British Airlines had to cancel over 1200flights and Ranier canceled 500 flights.
(32:05):
It just was terrible.
A month later in September, 2006.
The T as a modified itto what we know now.
The 3 1 1 rule, liquids, gels,and aerosols and containers of 3.4
ounces or less, all fitting in asingle court sized clear plastic
bag, one bag per passenger.
And this is when shoe removal becamemandatory as well for all passengers.
(32:29):
The TSA reasoned that if terroristscould hide explosives and liquids, they
could keep hiding them in shoes as well.
It's like a waterbed.
I've got water soles.
What?
Ugh, boy.
So for this trial, it was way morecomplicated than the one on Reed.
Our shoe bomber in the first story,who's, it was like less than a year.
(32:52):
It was like bing bang, boom.
This had multiple defendants, it hadinternational intelligence evidence.
And it led to threecompletely separate trials.
So the first trial in 2008ended with mixed verdicts.
Three men were convicted ofconspiracy to murder, but the jury
couldn't reach unanimous decisionson the most serious charges of
(33:15):
conspiracy to blow up an aircraft.
Hmm.
And I wonder if that has to dowith them not buying a ticket.
I don't know.
I, you know, a second trial in2009 finally secured convictions
on the aircraft bombing chargesfor the three ring leaders.
(33:35):
They were sentenced to lifeimprisonment with Ali receiving at
least 40 years, sarwar at least 36years, and Hussein at least 32 years.
A third trial in 2010, convictedthree more conspirators each
receiving 20 year minimum sentences.
So that's a ton of people.
That were involved in this ring.
(33:57):
So this was a genuine, sophisticatedthreat to aviation security.
This could have been thelargest, most sophisticated
terrorist attack in the world.
The liquid bomb plot demonstratedreal danger facing aviation.
But again, it was not TSA that discoveredit, thank goodness it was announced,
(34:23):
stopped before it could even really begin.
And then TSA did what it does best,in my opinion, which is like panic
and immediately make another rule.
Implement another rule.
Yes.
Oh my God.
All right.
Let's tell a wild story.
About underwear.
(34:43):
What kind of underwear?
My favorite pair of underwear.
Hey, down there our daughterlistens to, she like one of her
favorite videos is literally avideo about a pair of underwear.
And on that note, don't forgetone of her favorite books.
It's also underwear.
Look at my underwear.
I've got a stretchy pair.
(35:04):
I've got it right here.
One, you've got a giant bottom.
You need thunder pants, giant underwear.
We highly recommend the book Underpantsby make Believe ideas and that's our fun
pitch of the uh, book pitch of the day.
And if you guys wanna sponsor us.
Yeah.
Oh my gosh.
Un hinge sponsorship right there.
Alright.
(35:25):
Under.
By 2009, airport securityhad evolved significantly.
We had the 3 1 1 liquid rule,mandatory shoe removal and enhanced
screening procedures, but umar?
Farouk Abdu was about to demonstratethat determine terrorists will still find
(35:48):
ways to circumvent any security measure.
Umar's story is fascinating andtragic because it reveals massive
intelligence failures that shouldhave prevented the attack entirely.
He wasn't some unknown radicaloperating in the shadows.
He was on the radar ofmultiple intelligence agencies.
(36:09):
And his own fatherliterally called the CIA.
Like, Hey, uh, my kid has lost his mind.
And back in that day, they said marbles.
Marbles born December22nd, 1986 in Nigeria.
(36:29):
Umar was the youngest of 16 children,and he was described by the Times
as one of the richest men in Africa.
His father was a former chairmanof First Bank of Nigeria and former
Nigerian Federal Commissionerfor Economic Development.
This was not a poor,disenfranchised young.
(36:53):
This is a kid of enormous wealth andenormous privilege, aren't they always?
Well, Umar attended elite schools,including the British School of
Lame in Togo, and was considereda gifted student who enjoyed
PlayStation games and basketball.
But according to people whoknew him, he became increasingly
(37:17):
aloof during his teenage yearsdetaching himself from his peers.
In 2004 and 2005, Umar studied at theSauna Institute for the Arabic language
in Yemen, and he attended lectures atIman University in September, 2005.
He began studying mechanical engineeringat University College London, one of
(37:41):
Britain's most prestigious universities.
At UCL, he became president of theIslamic Society, which was described as a
vehicle for peaceful protest against theUS and UK actions in the war on terror.
During his tenure, the societyparticipated in Marsh arts training
(38:03):
and paintball trips, one of whichinvolved a preacher who reportedly
said, dying While fighting Jihad is oneof the surest ways to paradise, Hmm.
It's paintball my guy.
Paintball.
In January, 2007, he organized aconference called War on Terror Week,
featuring political figures, human rightslawyers, and former Guantanamo detainees.
(38:28):
One lecture was titled Jihadversus Terrorism, and was
billed as discussing the Islamicposition with respect to Jihad.
Despite this activity, he wasconsidered moderate and well-liked
as president of the Islamic Society.
But during these years, he hadcrossed the radar screen of MI five,
(38:50):
Britain's domestic IntelligenceService for radical links and multiple
communications with Islamic extremists.
In June, 2008, he received a multipleentry US visa valid Until June, 2010,
he used this visa to visit Houston.
Beautiful place?
(39:11):
No.
Okay, so he went toHouston in August, 2008.
After graduating from university, hemade regular visits to his family's town
in Kaduna, where his father was knownfor financing local mosque construction.
The first major red flag came inMay, 2009 when he tried to return
(39:34):
to Britain for what he claimed wasa six month life coaching program.
Hmm.
Now folks, any time somebody's partof a life coaching program, that's
always a red flag in my opinion.
But when you have been linked to terroristorganizations, it's an extra red flag.
Uh, British authorities concludedthe school was fictitious and
(39:56):
they denied his Visa application.
His name was placed on a UK home officesecurity watch list, meaning he couldn't
enter the UK in 2009, his father agreedto send him to Yemen to study Arabic.
But once he was there.
His behavior becameincreasingly concerning.
(40:17):
He was the only African among70 students at the school.
Fellow students said he would start eachday at dawn, prayers, then spend hours
in his room reading the Quran afterapparently leaving the institute after
just one month while remaining in country.
He routinely skipped classes andinstead attended lectures at Eman
(40:40):
University, which was known forsuspected links to terrorism.
One classmate said, he told me hisgreatest wish was for Islam to be
the rule of law across the world.
In October, 2009, the situationescalated dramatically.
So Omar sent his father a text messagesaying that he was no longer interested
(41:01):
in pursuing an MBA in Dubai, and hewanted to study Sharia in Arabic in
a seven year course in Yemen whenhis father threatened to cut off his
funding, Omar said that he was alreadygetting everything for free and refused
to identify his financial supporters.
Oh Daddy, I don't need you no more.
(41:21):
Wow.
I'm a big boy.
He sent additional texts statingthat he would be cutting off
contact and disowning his family.
The family last heard from, um, Omar.
In October, 2009, this is when hisfather made the decision that should
have prevented the Christmas day attack.
On November 19th, 2009, he walkedinto the US Embassy in Nigeria
(41:46):
and met with two CIA officers.
He reported his son's extremereligious views and told them that
Omar might be in Yemen with terrorists.
This wasn't a vague concern.
This was a very specificwarning from a credible source.
The CIA's response wasbureaucratically correct, but
(42:06):
ultimately completely inadequate.
They added Omar's name to the terroristidentities data mart environment.
Wow, that's a fun one.
It's called Tide.
It's kind of like Bargain Mart.
Yeah.
We just got some people listed here.
It's fine.
Which is a database that contains550,000 names, 550,000 names.
(42:32):
That's a lot to scroll through.
But they didn't add him to the FBI'sterrorist screening database, which
is the screening for the no fly list.
Mm-hmm.
Most critically, his USvisa was not revoked.
Here's where it gets alittle more frustrating.
US State Department officials latertestified to Congress that they
(42:54):
had wanted to revoke his visa, butintelligence officials asked them not to.
The reasoning was that revokingthe Visa could have foiled a larger
investigation into Al-Qaeda operations.
Mm-hmm.
That is the flip side to the cointhat we already talked about.
That's they're alwaysafter the bigger fish.
(43:15):
And you know, this timeit didn't work out.
Yeah.
This time it's not gonna work out.
Meanwhile, British authoritieshad information that could have
been crucial, but they did notshare with the United States.
The UK's rejection of Omar's Visaapplication and his placement on their
security watch list was not communicatedto US authorities because the Visa
(43:37):
denial was classified as immigrationrather than national security.
Mm mm I am blinking rapidly, oh my gosh.
On November 11th, 2009, BritishIntelligence sent a cable to the
US indicating that a man named UmarFarouk had spoken to Anwar Allah walk.
(44:00):
Pledging to support Jihad, butthe cable didn't include Omar's
last name, making it difficult toconnect to the CIA's existing file.
They basically just gave him, like, theygave them a first name, like not, we
need more, John is gonna kill everybody.
Yes.
Yeah.
Yes.
I mean, come on.
(44:21):
So, by December, 2009, theUS intelligence community had
multiple pieces of a puzzle that.
When assembled clearly pointedto Omar as a significant threat.
His father directly warning theCIA British intelligence reporting
his contact with known terrorists.
His placement on UK security watch listshis extended presence in Yemen, but
(44:46):
these pieces weren't ever put together.
Meanwhile, in Yemen, Omar wasundergoing Al-Qaeda training.
Intelligence officials believed that hemet with Anir Alki, the American born
cleric, who had become an Al-Qaeda's,uh, primary English language recruiter.
(45:11):
He was associated with multipleterrorist plots, including connections
to three of the nine 11 hijackers, um,and also the 2009 Fort Hood shooter.
So real piece of shit.
Human being so Omar then traveledto the mountainous Shawa province
to meet with Al-Qaeda Elements.
(45:33):
A video actually later surfaced showinghim and other people training in a
desert camp, firing weapons at targets,including the star of David, the
British Union Jack, and the letters un
again, like a terrible use of skills.
(45:53):
Whoever is setting up this camp,if they weren't completely nuts.
They could have done like an adorablechildren's camp and instead they're
leading a terrorist operation.
Terrible.
Wow.
It's just really terrible.
Bit of a dreamer.
You are.
I'm just saying it's just a waste.
It's all a waste.
(46:15):
On December 7th, 2009, Omar leftYemen flying to Ethiopia and
then to Ghana on December 9th.
He remained in Ghana until December24th when he flew to Lagos.
During this time, he was fitted withan underwear bomb containing PETN,
which is the same explosive thatReed had actually used in his shoes.
(46:38):
On December 24th, Omarpurchased a ticket with cash.
For KLM flight 5 88.
From logos to Amsterdamconnecting to Northwest Airlines.
Flight 2 53 to Detroit.
He had a Nigerian passportand a valid US tourist visa.
(46:58):
So he looks real up and up on paper.
It's Christmas day sac, December25th, 2009, and Omar boarded Northwest
Airlines Flight 2 53 in Amsterdam.
The flight carried 290 people, 279passengers, and 11 crew members
for most of the nearly eight hourflight, nothing seemed amidst.
(47:19):
He said a mist, a mist.
Omar was traveling alone, seated in19 A, a window seat over the wing.
Oh, that's like my go-to spot.
All right.
About 20 minutes before the scheduledlanding in Detroit, he got up and spent
approximately 20 minutes in the bathroom,which by itself is a very suspicious,
and nobody wants to sit in an airplanebathroom for a long period of time.
(47:42):
The hell you doing for 20 minutesin the bathroom masturbating?
I would've so preferred thatbeing the ending to this story.
How do you, real quick, how do youfeel that he would've been sitting
next to you in your go-to seat?
Well, you want the window too, soyou, yeah, I want the window too.
20 bay.
(48:03):
I don't know.
I, it depends on where we're flying to.
If it's somewhere scenic that I've neverbeen to, I love a window anywhere else.
Like my normal flight from ColoradoSprings to Dallas, I always get an aisle.
That's because you wannajust zip out of there?
I do.
Exactly.
All right.
Uh, let's talk about what hewas doing in the bathroom.
When he returned to his seat, hecovered himself with a blanket.
(48:25):
What passengers couldn't see was thathe was attempting to activate the
explosive device sewn into his underwear.
So it actually probably lookedlike he was masturbating.
God, I just can't get this thing,like doing a weird hand thing in his
underwear under a blanket on an airplane.
Nope.
The device was a six incha packet containing PETN
(48:49):
explosive powder to detonate it.
Omar was supposed to inject it witha liquid from a syringe, creating a
chemical reaction that would causean explosion, but something went
wrong with the detonation sequence.
Instead of exploding,the device caught fire.
Passengers heard poppingsounds and smelled a foul odor.
(49:09):
Somes saw flames.
Could he shit his pants, sorry,
some saw flames on Omar's trouserleg in the wall of the aircraft.
He was literally on fire, sufferingsevere burns to his hands and genitals.
That's what you get.
I mean, karma is a cruel bitch.
So Yesper Singa, a Dutch film directorsitting several rows away, heard the
(49:35):
commotion and saw the flames, and withouthesitation, he jumped over seats to
reach Omar, tackling him and helpingflight attendants extinguish the fire.
Other passengers and crew membersworked together to subdue and
restrain the Woodby bomber.
Omar was moved to the front of theaircraft where he told a flight
attendant he had an explosive device.
(49:58):
Flight 2 53 made an emergency landingin Detroit, uh, metropolitan Airport,
where he was immediately arrestedby US Customs and Border Protection
Officers, and passed right on to the FBI.
He was taken to a hospital fortreatment of his first and second
degree burns to his hands and his gen.
(50:19):
He initially cooperated withinvestigators admitting that he had
been directed by Al-Qaeda and hehad obtained the device in Yemen.
Al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsulalater claimed responsibility, so
they were like, yes, which was us.
Ugh.
They love taking credit.
The aftermath was swift and severe.
(50:39):
Uh, this is president Obama is in office.
He ordered a comprehensive review ofdetection and watch list procedures,
calling the intelligence failures.
Totally unacceptable.
Which it was several highranking officials were
reassigned or they resigned.
The TS a's response was thedeployment of the full body scanner.
(51:06):
Mm-hmm.
These controversial machines, sometimescalled naked scanners by critics used
millimeter wave technology to createdetailed images of your body, potentially
revealing concealed weapons or explosives.
By the end of 2010, around 500 ofthese advanced imaging technology
(51:28):
units were deployed across US airports.
The scanners raised significantprivacy concerns as operators.
I could see, uh, a lot.
I could see a lot.
Show me your genitals.
Your genitals.
Show me your genitals, your genital young.
Oh boy.
Well, these, uh, these machines werereferred to as the virtual strip searches.
(51:52):
All right, let's talk about Omar'slegal proceedings here real quick.
They were complex.
He initially cooperated withinvestigators, and then he stopped talking
after being read his Miranda Rights.
A decision that generated criticismfrom Republican politicians who argued
that he should have been treated as anenemy rather than a criminal defendant.
(52:15):
However, the FBI brought two.
Of Omar's relatives from Nigeriato speak with him and he actually
did begin to cooperate after that.
I wonder if one of 'em was his mom.
Moms, there's something about a momthat really can like, or a sister.
Okay.
Dunno who they were, andI'm not gonna speculate.
(52:36):
In October, 2011 against his lawyer'sadvice, actually he pleaded guilty to
eight federal charges, including attempteduse of a weapon of mass destruction
and attempted murder of 289 people.
On February 16th, 2012, he wassentenced to four consecutive
(52:59):
life sentences, plus 50 yearswithout the possibility of parole.
And he is now in.
Florence, he's in Florence.
He's just a stone throw awayfrom us, so that's cool.
So yeah, he and Reed areactually in prison together.
What makes the underwear bombercase particularly frustrating
(53:22):
is how preventable it was.
This guy was known, he was known,his family knew he should have been
flagged to be unable to get on a plane.
I mean, thank God that other peoplewere not injured and it was just
him and his genitalia, but it'sstill super fucked that he was
(53:43):
even able to get on an airplane.
And ultimately it was the passengersand the crew who stopped this attack.
It always is.
Yeah.
Yeah.
Woof.
Okay.
So we are gonna wrap up part one.
We have reviewed three terroristin incidents that have shaped
modern airport security.
Take off your shoes.
(54:05):
You can only have three ounces ofliquid and you go through the full
body 360 machine imaging machine.
Okay.
So unfortunately what we reallycome down to is that in all of these
cases, TSA never stopped anything.
(54:27):
Anything.
They never really stopped one.
And you know, I feel confident in sayingthat TSA is reactive, not proactive.
So they, when somethinghappens, they go nuts with it.
So here is our big questionthat we're going to try and
answer in our next episode.
(54:48):
Have these measuresactually made us safer?
Well, join us for part two next weekwhere we will examine the TSA shocking
failure rates, screening, testing, uh,the human cost of airport security.
Whew, guys, it's a big number andthe recent policy changes that
have everyone asking if we can keepour shoes on now, what the fuck?
(55:14):
Until then, remember to stow your tradetables, fasten your seat belts, and
prepare for the unexpected, because notevery trip reaches its final destination.
And don't forget to pleaserate and review and subscribe
wherever you get your podcast.
(55:35):
She forgot that one.
I so did, I totally skipped over it.
Good.
Goodbye.
Goodbye.
picture this.
You are rushing through the airportlate for your flight, dreading
the long line of security, butthen something miraculous happens.
The TSA agent tells youto keep your shoes on.
After 19 years of removing shoes, theDepartment of Homeland Security has
(00:30):
suddenly decided that maybe just, maybewe don't need to take our shoes off
after all, today we are diving deepinto the three terrorist incidents that
shaped modern airport security, sostow your trade tables, fasten your seat
(00:51):
belts, and prepare for some turbulencebecause this is final boarding call.
Let me unmute you.
Yeah.
It's way more fun whenI'm unmuted, isn't it?
It is.
It's extra fun when you're noteating a cookie into the mic.
(01:12):
People like it.
Ugh.
People are freaky.
All right.
Hello and welcome to a special two-parter.
We're gonna let you know right upfront that this is a, a two-parter.
This is obviously a huge topic thatwe're gonna cover of final boarding call.
I am your disaster obsessed host, Alice.
(01:34):
And I am Zach.
Reluctant homebody.
I think I just saw a squirrelrun by and it distracted me.
Literally.
Squirrel.
Oh boy.
Okay.
We've got a lovelywhomping willow outside.
At least that's what Ithink of when I see it.
Well, I love that.
Okay.
I'm gonna real quick over our sources.
(01:54):
It might be that giant fly.
Yeah.
We have a huge fly that'sjust fly around us.
That's a big fly.
It's a big boy.
Okay.
We have the TSA Wikipedia page,uh, Wikipedia pages from all of
the attacks that we're going totalk about or attempted attacks.
We have an amazing NPRarticle by David Shaper.
(02:16):
We have an article by Diane Grace as well.
Before we dive into the attacks thatwe're gonna talk about today, let's
set the scene on September 10th, 2001.
Airport security was acompletely different world.
(02:36):
So Zach, I know that you didn't do atremendous amount of flying as a youth.
Um, I did zero.
Okay.
You did zero.
I did a lot.
Multiple flights a year, and Iremember having my nana, for example,
walk us to our gate when we wereleaving New Jersey and kiss us
(03:00):
goodbye as we got onto the airplane.
Obviously can't do that anymore, but youused to be able to go shopping inside of
an airport eat food inside of an airport.
It was a, essentially a mall with planes.
(03:21):
I like that.
Yeah, right.
Cool.
Fun, funky.
Okay.
The security checkpoint was run by privatecontractors hired by airlines, and these
contracts went to the lowest bidder.
So the screening process was basicallywalk through a metal detector, maybe
get your bag x-rayed, keep your shoeson, bring any amount of liquids that
(03:44):
you wanted, the FAA allowed knives
up to four inches long on the aircraft.
So that's wild.
That part's not that weird to me.
It's just a can knife.
Yeah.
But now they would like lose their shitif they saw you trying to bring a knife.
(04:05):
I one time got a cuticle tool removedout of my back, like the little metal
thing that has the hook on the end of it.
Weapon.
After nine 11, everythingchanged overnight.
The Aviation and Transportation SafetyAct created the TSA and they did it
(04:25):
in record time, hiring 55,000 securityscreeners in less than one year.
That's big.
55,000 people.
But what's fascinating is how the TSAapproach has been entirely reactive.
(04:47):
Every major security measure that weknow about today was implemented because
somebody tried to do some stupid shit.
So we're gonna walk through them.
We are literally going to go throughan exercise of like, think of the TSA
thing you have to do, and then we'regonna talk about why you have to do it.
(05:07):
There's always a warning label onstuff because somebody was dumb
enough to try to do that thing.
McDonald's has to write caution.
Your coffee is hot becausethat lady sued them.
Yeah.
And won.
All right, let's talk about why we needto take our shoes off and, and well
used to have to take our shoes off.
(05:27):
Richard Colvin Reed was born in London in1973 to a petty criminal father who was in
prison for car theft when Reed was born.
. He followed in his father's footstepsaccumulating Moore than 10 convictions
by his teens and serving timeat multiple juvenile facilities.
(05:52):
He was a graffiti writer whowent by n roll as part of a gang.
That sounds racist.
Okay.
Look, I'm very naive with like thestreet slang and whatnot, so I always
have to check it with you because thereare terms that I genuinely don't know.
Well, I'm gonna let you knowthat in roll is not one of 'em.
(06:12):
In 1992, while serving athree year sentence for street
robberies, Reed converted to Islam.
Upon his release in 1995, he initiallyjoined the moderate Brixton Mosque,
but by 1998, he had moved to theFinsbury Park Mosque in North London.
(06:35):
This mosque was headed by AbuhamAl Masri, an anti-American cleric,
described as the heart of theextremist Islamic culture in Britain.
Hmm.
Okay.
That just rolls right off the tongue.
At Finsbury Park Reed fell under theinfluence of what investigators called
(06:57):
terrorist talent spotters and handlers,which is very different than when
you're at the mall and somebody comesup to you and it's like, oh my God,
have you ever considered being a model?
And then they give you this cardand then you go to this scouting
thing and they tell you how forlike $15,000 you can become a model.
(07:18):
For me, it was never modeling, but Idid get scouted for like Disney Channel.
But it was a scam.
at Finsbury Park, Reed fell under theinfluence of what investigators called
terrorist talent, spotters and handlers,including De Jamal Behal, one of the
(07:39):
leaders of a Foiled 2001 suicide bombingplot against the American Embassy in Peli.
Reed spent 1999 and 2000 in Pakistanwhere he trained at terrorist camps.
In Afghanistan and he may haveattended an anti-American religious
(08:00):
training center as well unconfirmed,but it may have happened.
After returning to Britain, Reedtried to obtain duplicate passports
from British consulates abroad,which is a classic terrorist tactic
for creating false identities.
He lived and traveled across Europewhile maintaining communication through
(08:23):
an address in Pakistan which is where AlAda had been formed in the late 1980s.
Everybody hates America.
In November, 2001, Reed and anotherBritish terrorist named Sahi Badat
returned to Pakistan and reportedlytraveled over land to Afghanistan.
(08:47):
There they were given what investigatorscalled shoe bombs casual footwear
that had been adapted to be covertlysmuggled onto aircraft later.
I am curious to see whatthese would look like.
I know, yeah.
It was like, are they platform shoes?
Is there a bunch of space or is thisjust a normal rubber sold shoe and they
(09:09):
just manage some explosive in there.
They're just like 10 inch platform boots.
Yeah.
It's like, ah, bet you like this Boots.
Those people should still be stopped byTSA and to remove their shoes 'cause they
could actually have some stuff in there.
Oh boy.
If I saw somebody wearing anytime,honestly, that I see people
(09:29):
wearing those crazy platform shoes.
I'm just in awe of them.
I put on like a three inch highheel and I'm walking like Bambi
on ice, like it's horrible.
It's different to walk in a high heel thanit is to walk on big old platform shoes.
The platforms have you stillflat-footed, but up however many inches.
(09:54):
Okay.
There's a crazy season of America'sNext Top model where they have to
walk in some super nutty platformsand those girls, one of the girls I
think breaks her ankle walking in them.
It's not funny.
No, it's horrible and funny.
Okay.
Anyway, shoe bombs later forensicanalysis would show that both
(10:14):
bombs contained identical plasticexplosives and the detonator cords
had come from the same batch.
The cut mark on bad's cordexactly matched the cut on reeds.
So they were, essentially what thatmeans is they were coordinated exactly.
It was gonna be a coordinated attack onflights from Europe to the United States.
(10:38):
USA Reed returned to Europe inearly December, 2001, spent 10
days in Belgium, then On December16th, took a train to Paris.
His target was American Airlines Flight 63from Paris to Miami, December 21st, 2001.
(10:59):
Reed's first attempt.
Reid arrived at Charles Ol airportlooking disheveled and suspicious.
That is what Wikipediasaid, and I love it.
So left it in there,disheveled and suspicious.
His appearance was actually so concerningthat airline passenger screeners
(11:24):
delayed his boarding and referredhim to the French National Police.
Hmm.
He was questioned for hours by an ICTSagent and French police due to what
they described as evasive behaviorand a suspicious lack of luggage for
somebody who is flying across the world.
(11:47):
Didn't even have a backpack.
I travel, not planning on staying long.
Question mark.
Like that's weird.
Here's the crucial part, because Reed'sBritish passport was genuine and his
name wasn't on any terrorist watch list.
The police didn't x-ray himor use bomb sniffing dogs.
(12:08):
They had no legal authority todo more than just question him.
The extended questioning meant thathe missed flight 63, so he stayed
overnight at an airport hotel whileAmerican Airlines was allowed to
reissue him a ticket for the next day.
The 24 hour delay would provecrucial, but not in the way that
(12:31):
you might be thinking, Zach.
So now it is December 22nd, 2001.
It's almost Christmas.
It's almost Christmas.
Let's talk about anattempted terrorist attack.
So Reed returned to the airportand actually successfully boarded
American Airlines Flight 63.
(12:52):
So same flight, different day.
And this time he must haveshowered and shaved because he
got on the flight no problem.
He was wearing shoes packed with10 ounces of plastic explosive
in the hollowed out bottoms.
This is not a small amount.
Investigators later confirmed that itwas enough to blow a hole in the fuselage
(13:15):
and absolutely caused the plane to crash,which would've killed the 197 people
aboard sounds right After 20 minutes intothe flight after takeoff meal service.
Is happening.
They got right to it.
I feel like that's quite, I knowpassengers began complaining
(13:39):
about the smell of smoke.
Hmm.
What flight attendant?
Hermes moia.
Please forgive my French pronunciation,but I, I feel like it is her me, mu
(13:59):
All right.
French people.
Do I sound like I know what I'm saying?
No.
Zach is shaking his head.
Be nice to me.
I'm doing my best.
I took French.
You do not sound like you knowwhat you're talking about.
How would you pronounce it?
I don't know.
I can't see it.
It's this,
would you take one year of French?
I think you know it all.
Oh, how come you never speak French to me?
(14:21):
Okay.
Anyway, what name is that?
Um, I believe you would stillpronounce the S on that, so
I think it would be Hamis.
Mure.
All right, Zach.
Sounds better for sure.
Whatever.
Anii.
Okay.
Anyway, this wonderful flightattendant thought that she smelt a
burnt match and she walked through theaisles trying to locate the source.
(14:45):
She found Reed sitting alone neara window attempting to light a
match, which probably looked so emo.
You know, it's like, imaginethe emo get on the airplane.
Nobody understands me.
I'm sorry.
I can't be perfect.
(15:05):
Oh my gosh.
You know what's funny, Zach?
For whatever reason I have apronunciation for her name, I just
put it, I, I skipped the first time.
Her name is mentioned and Ihave the pronunciation as muta,
which I think is exactly what you said.
Muta.
I mean, I probably didn't ruleout the D as much, but yeah,
(15:26):
you're supposed to di di.
Alright.
Anyway, she warns him that smokingis not allowed on the aircraft,
and Reed promises to stop my bad.
Oops, nobody cuts me.
But a few minutes later she foundhim, leaned over in his seat yet again
(15:47):
when she asks him what he's doing.
Reed grabbed her in that moment.
She could see one shoe in hislap, a fuse leading into the
shoe, and a lip match in his hand.
Reed was seconds away from detonating,a bomb that would've killed everyone.
Quick blow out.
(16:08):
Well, what happens next was chaos.
Several passengers realizing what washappening, worked together to subdue
the six foot four, 215 pound read.
I would like to say two 15 is a lot,but I tip the scales a little further.
(16:28):
So who am I?
Judge.
You're a great guy to have Onplanes good at restraining.
They restrained him using plastichandcuffs, seatbelt extensions, leather
waist belts, and headphone cords.
Which is so MacGyver like, just, I feellike any one of those would've sufficed,
but instead they're like, use all of them.
Uh, if there's a lunatic tryingto blow up the plane, I will, I
(16:51):
will do anything, use everything.
He got an off-duty doctor, found atranquilizer in the aircraft's emergency
medical kit and in it said tight.
Let me shoot him with it.
Yes.
Did they administeredit to him to sedate him?
The flight was immediately divertedto Logan International Airport in
Boston, which was the closest USairport where Reed was arrested.
(17:15):
The moment the plane landed,but here is the key question,
why didn't the bomb explode?
He didn't get the match to it.
The answer reveals just how closethis attack came to succeeding.
The explosive device had been designedto work and Reed had successfully
gotten it through airport security.
(17:35):
The only reason that 197people survived was pure luck.
The rainy weather in Paris throughcombined with Reed's foot sweat
during his nervous 24 hour delay hadmade the fuse too damp to ignite.
(17:56):
What that explains why I haveto try, he had to try multiple,
they selt the match first.
Mm-hmm.
Which is a sign that nobody had noticedhim trying to light it the first
time, and he's probably sitting therepanicking just like, what the fuck, man?
Get this going crazy.
If he had been able to get on that firstflight, he likely would've blown it up.
(18:18):
Yep.
The attack failed due to meteorology.
So we do have to give kudosto the security that flagged
him as being sketchy, sketchy.
You know, so that,that's something I guess.
But he still was not written down onlike a do not fly list, and he was issued
(18:39):
another ticket, no questions asked.
The legal aftermath, in case you'rewondering what happened to him was swift.
He was charged with nineterrorism related counts.
Though one was later dismissedbecause the congressional definition
of vehicle didn't include aircraft.
Yeah.
Everything is so dumb andnuance and fine print nuance.
(19:03):
It turns out it doesn'tmatter what country you're in.
Like he should have been, you know,they had reasonable suspicion for
this guy enough to pull him to theside before his first flight, but they
weren't allowed to do anything about it.
How stupid is that?
Because of red tape?
It's, it's wild for sure.
So on October 4th, 2002.
(19:25):
So this is very quick becausethis is less than a year since the
attacks, so they're like gettinghim through this judicial system.
October 4th, he pleaded guiltyto the remaining eight counts.
During his sentencing hearing,which was on July 31st,
(19:46):
2003, he showed zero remorse.
He declared himself an enemy ofthe United States, and he said that
he was a soldier under the commandof Osama bin Laden Federal Judge
William Young was not having it.
End quote, uh, he sentencedReed to three consecutive life
(20:07):
sentences plus another 110 years.
Just to add a little, just to cherry ontop, just to cherry on top, and of course
that is all without parole, and he toldhim, you are not a soldier in any army.
You are a terrorist.
To call you a soldier givesyou far too much stature.
I would've more just gone.
You're actually not a terrorist at all.
(20:29):
You're just a prisoner.
No.
Are, are you ready for what Ifound to be one of the craziest
facts of this whole story?
Tell me he is currently servinghis sentence in Florence, Colorado.
Yeah.
That's like the biggest maximum security.
Okay.
Well, there's lots of terrible,terrible people in this state.
(20:49):
If you can believe it.
There are, it's considered asupermax facility that holds the
most dangerous federal prison nurse.
Yeah.
I just wasn't sure if you knew about it.
I was like, I can't wait to tellZach about this crazy prison.
I've driven past it.
I've stared at it all kind of stuff.
Oh, yeah.
No, I mean, I'm, I'm sure I have two.
It's in Florence.
Okay.
(21:10):
The Ts a's response to the shoe bomberwas immediate, but initially modest.
They began asking passengers tovoluntarily remove their shoes, ice maker.
Wow.
But this was just the beginning, Zach.
The shoe bomber had demonstratedthat terrorists could conceal
explosives in everyday items.
(21:33):
So let's see.
And a pretty small package isenough to do some serious damage.
So Zach, what is another TSArule that you think about?
Um, they make me take off mybelt even though I have TSA pre.
Okay.
Uh, annoying.
That is annoying.
And we will actually get to a storythat is adjacent to that, but I
(21:57):
was more so thinking the threeounce liquid rule, which I hate.
It does seem absurd, but at leastthat one I've always understood, like
you can have some liquids that canmix together and make an explosion.
It doesn't, it takes what, twodifferent liquids together?
Might be three is the minimum.
(22:18):
I don't remember.
I'm not a scientist.
Well, let's talk about liquids.
Fast forward to 2006, and BritishIntelligence was conducting what
would become the UK's largestsurveillance operation in history.
They were tracking a sophisticatedterrorist plot that made Reed's
(22:41):
shoe bomb look like amateur hour.
The operation began when Britishauthorities started monitoring a man
named Abdullah Ahmed Ali, who had recentlyreturned from Pakistan in June, 2006.
When investigators covertly openedhis luggage, they found something
(23:03):
concerning powdered soft drinkmix, specifically Tang and a large
number of batteries, love Tang.
This combination raised immediatesuspicions about bomb making materials,
so they Googled real quick, is Tangexplosive as explosive to your intestines?
(23:31):
Absolutely.
What followed was an intensivesurveillance operation involving
220 additional officers from Jesus.
Yeah, from multiple police forces.
They watched as Assad Soir.
From high y comb, sorry.
Our, our British people madepurchases that seemed inconsistent
(23:55):
with normal daily needs.
That always reminds me of like whena, when a jilted husband goes to
the store and buys like a shovel,a tarp, bleach, and you're like,
duct tape and a rope duct tape.
You're like, Ugh, whatcha doing?
And a hammer.
Yeah.
So let's talk about thesketchy stuff that he's buying.
(24:16):
On one occasion, surveillance officerswatched him dispose of empty hydrogen
peroxide bottles at a recycling center.
Hydrogen peroxide, while legallyavailable as hair bleach, is also
a key component in explosives.
When MI five agents covertly entered aflat being used by Ali, they discovered
(24:40):
what appeared to be a bomb factory.
They installed hiddencameras and microphones.
Then they watched and they waited.
It's like real life swat.
On August 3rd, 2006, thesurveillance team hit the jackpot.
They filmed Ali and TabirHussein constructing explosive
(25:01):
devices out of drink bottles.
The setup was sophisticated.
They were using legitimateoasis and Lucozade, Lucozade,
Lucozade sports drink bottles.
I'm wondering if that'ssomething that was.
Not, I bet they were all orange flavored.
Well, think about to putthe tang in there with it.
(25:24):
Mm-hmm.
So it would look like that's what it was.
Oh, we're about to get to the tongue.
Uh, but they replaced thecontents with a deadly mixture.
The plan was diabolical in its simplicity.
The terrace would board flights curingwhat appeared to be normal, unopened
soft drink bottles inside the originalcontents had been replaced with
(25:45):
hydrogen peroxide mixed with Tang drinkpowder to match the original color of
the sports drinks ing bad bang bad.
They would inject additional explosivematerials into the bottles using syringes
without ever removing the bottle caps.
The entry holes would be resealed, makingthe bottles appear completely normal.
(26:09):
To security.
The actual detonation would come fromimprovised explosive devices hidden
inside aa, battery casings connected tothe flash units of disposable cameras.
Ingenious.
It's smart.
I mean, that is really smart.
(26:32):
What a waste of talent.
Like it really is so sad.
You're dead set on killing a bunchof people, but you, if you actually
put that brain to some good use, itcould do a lot of good for the world.
Doing good doesn't pay well.
I don't think being a terroristpays particularly well either.
I don't know.
Maybe they get like a year of really goodliving and their family's taken care of.
(26:56):
Well, I, maybe not.
No, I, I, I don't know.
And I, I mean, I, yeah, I don't know.
They do it for the passion.
The process would happen.
Mid-flight board, the plane withthe disguised liquid explosives,
assembled the detonator components inthe bathroom, the aircraft bathroom,
and then detonate the devices.
(27:18):
Each bomber would essentially buildtheir bomb during the flight itself.
The target list was ambitiousand absolutely terrifying.
The plotters had researched sevenspecific flights, all departing
from London, Heathrow, to majorcities in the US and Canada.
If successful, this coordinated attackwould've killed over 2000 people.
(27:44):
Geez, across multipleaircraft in a single day.
I mean, that's nuts.
Surveillance officers later watchedAli spend two hours at an internet
cafe researching flight timetables andstudying airline security procedures.
The investigation had reachedwhat police called a critical
(28:05):
point, where they believed that anattack would be pretty imminent.
I don't know what more you want,like me, like booking a ticket.
It's, he seems pretty committed.
On August 9th, 2006, theBritish police intervened.
So in overnight raids across London,bi Birmingham, and High Wickham.
(28:27):
They arrested 24 suspects.
The key suspects were British-bornMuslims, some of Pakistani descent, and
several were recent converts to Islam.
The evidence recovered was extensive.
Police performed 69 searches ofresidences, businesses, vehicles, and open
(28:48):
spaces, and man did they hit the jackpot.
They found bomb making equipment,chemicals, digital evidence.
More than 400 computers, 200 cellphones, and 8,000 items of removable
storage media, which, for the babies.
It's an SD card.
(29:08):
It's, it's a memory stick.
CDs and DVDs.
Physical things.
What's a DVD From the computersalone they collected six terabytes
of data, which for 2006 it's a lot.
Is a lot.
It's a lot, a lot.
(29:29):
But there was controversy aboutthe timing of the arrests.
NBC News reported significantdisagreements between US and UK
authorities over when to move in.
According to their sources, senior Britishofficials contended that an attack was
actually not imminent because the suspectshad not purchased airline tickets and
(29:53):
some of them did not have passports.
Hmm.
British authorities wanted to continuesurveillance to gather more evidence
and identify additional conspirators.
However, US officials reportedlythreatened to use extra basically
extradition extraordinaryrendition on suspected ringleader
(30:13):
Rashid ruff in Pakistan, orpressure Pakistan to arrest him.
And then, you know, basicallythe US forced the UK's hand.
Well, I'm gonna be honest, I don'tcompletely disagree with the uk.
You, you have surveillance in the buildingwhere they have all the explosives and you
(30:35):
can just wait to see them start packingstuff up and be like, okay, now it's time.
Yeah, it's riskier, but it does give youa chance to get a whole lot more people.
It does.
And I feel like if they tookprecautions of making sure that those
people were barred from flying Yeah.
They were already flagged assoon as they bought a ticket.
(30:56):
Anything like that.
Mm-hmm.
Yeah, I agree with you.
The TSAs response was immediate.
So like, like anything with TSA, thesecond something happens, they're
like, boom, baby, we're on it.
On August 10th, 2006, they banned allliquids, gels and aerosols from carry
(31:17):
on bags, like everything, liquid waterbottles, coffee, shampoo, toothpaste,
which isn't even really a liquid.
It's a semi, yeah.
The, I'm curious, at what point did thatcome back into being a normal thing where
you could have like up to three ounces?
We'll talk about it because obviously thisis very extreme and it did not last long.
(31:41):
So an estimated 400,000 passengerswere affected on the first day,
and it cost airlines over 175million pounds as many ast 20,000
bags were misplaced at Heathrow.
British Airlines had to cancel over 1200flights and Ranier canceled 500 flights.
(32:05):
It just was terrible.
A month later in September, 2006.
The T as a modified itto what we know now.
The 3 1 1 rule, liquids, gels,and aerosols and containers of 3.4
ounces or less, all fitting in asingle court sized clear plastic
bag, one bag per passenger.
And this is when shoe removal becamemandatory as well for all passengers.
(32:29):
The TSA reasoned that if terroristscould hide explosives and liquids, they
could keep hiding them in shoes as well.
It's like a waterbed.
I've got water soles.
What?
Ugh, boy.
So for this trial, it was way morecomplicated than the one on Reed.
Our shoe bomber in the first story,who's, it was like less than a year.
(32:52):
It was like bing bang, boom.
This had multiple defendants, it hadinternational intelligence evidence.
And it led to threecompletely separate trials.
So the first trial in 2008ended with mixed verdicts.
Three men were convicted ofconspiracy to murder, but the jury
couldn't reach unanimous decisionson the most serious charges of
(33:15):
conspiracy to blow up an aircraft.
Hmm.
And I wonder if that has to dowith them not buying a ticket.
I don't know.
I, you know, a second trial in2009 finally secured convictions
on the aircraft bombing chargesfor the three ring leaders.
(33:35):
They were sentenced to lifeimprisonment with Ali receiving at
least 40 years, sarwar at least 36years, and Hussein at least 32 years.
A third trial in 2010, convictedthree more conspirators each
receiving 20 year minimum sentences.
So that's a ton of people.
That were involved in this ring.
(33:57):
So this was a genuine, sophisticatedthreat to aviation security.
This could have been thelargest, most sophisticated
terrorist attack in the world.
The liquid bomb plot demonstratedreal danger facing aviation.
But again, it was not TSA that discoveredit, thank goodness it was announced,
(34:23):
stopped before it could even really begin.
And then TSA did what it does best,in my opinion, which is like panic
and immediately make another rule.
Implement another rule.
Yes.
Oh my God.
All right.
Let's tell a wild story.
About underwear.
(34:43):
What kind of underwear?
My favorite pair of underwear.
Hey, down there our daughterlistens to, she like one of her
favorite videos is literally avideo about a pair of underwear.
And on that note, don't forgetone of her favorite books.
It's also underwear.
Look at my underwear.
I've got a stretchy pair.
(35:04):
I've got it right here.
One, you've got a giant bottom.
You need thunder pants, giant underwear.
We highly recommend the book Underpantsby make Believe ideas and that's our fun
pitch of the uh, book pitch of the day.
And if you guys wanna sponsor us.
Yeah.
Oh my gosh.
Un hinge sponsorship right there.
Alright.
(35:25):
Under.
By 2009, airport securityhad evolved significantly.
We had the 3 1 1 liquid rule,mandatory shoe removal and enhanced
screening procedures, but umar?
Farouk Abdu was about to demonstratethat determine terrorists will still find
(35:48):
ways to circumvent any security measure.
Umar's story is fascinating andtragic because it reveals massive
intelligence failures that shouldhave prevented the attack entirely.
He wasn't some unknown radicaloperating in the shadows.
He was on the radar ofmultiple intelligence agencies.
(36:09):
And his own fatherliterally called the CIA.
Like, Hey, uh, my kid has lost his mind.
And back in that day, they said marbles.
Marbles born December22nd, 1986 in Nigeria.
(36:29):
Umar was the youngest of 16 children,and he was described by the Times
as one of the richest men in Africa.
His father was a former chairmanof First Bank of Nigeria and former
Nigerian Federal Commissionerfor Economic Development.
This was not a poor,disenfranchised young.
(36:53):
This is a kid of enormous wealth andenormous privilege, aren't they always?
Well, Umar attended elite schools,including the British School of
Lame in Togo, and was considereda gifted student who enjoyed
PlayStation games and basketball.
But according to people whoknew him, he became increasingly
(37:17):
aloof during his teenage yearsdetaching himself from his peers.
In 2004 and 2005, Umar studied at theSauna Institute for the Arabic language
in Yemen, and he attended lectures atIman University in September, 2005.
He began studying mechanical engineeringat University College London, one of
(37:41):
Britain's most prestigious universities.
At UCL, he became president of theIslamic Society, which was described as a
vehicle for peaceful protest against theUS and UK actions in the war on terror.
During his tenure, the societyparticipated in Marsh arts training
(38:03):
and paintball trips, one of whichinvolved a preacher who reportedly
said, dying While fighting Jihad is oneof the surest ways to paradise, Hmm.
It's paintball my guy.
Paintball.
In January, 2007, he organized aconference called War on Terror Week,
featuring political figures, human rightslawyers, and former Guantanamo detainees.
(38:28):
One lecture was titled Jihadversus Terrorism, and was
billed as discussing the Islamicposition with respect to Jihad.
Despite this activity, he wasconsidered moderate and well-liked
as president of the Islamic Society.
But during these years, he hadcrossed the radar screen of MI five,
(38:50):
Britain's domestic IntelligenceService for radical links and multiple
communications with Islamic extremists.
In June, 2008, he received a multipleentry US visa valid Until June, 2010,
he used this visa to visit Houston.
Beautiful place?
(39:11):
No.
Okay, so he went toHouston in August, 2008.
After graduating from university, hemade regular visits to his family's town
in Kaduna, where his father was knownfor financing local mosque construction.
The first major red flag came inMay, 2009 when he tried to return
(39:34):
to Britain for what he claimed wasa six month life coaching program.
Hmm.
Now folks, any time somebody's partof a life coaching program, that's
always a red flag in my opinion.
But when you have been linked to terroristorganizations, it's an extra red flag.
Uh, British authorities concludedthe school was fictitious and
(39:56):
they denied his Visa application.
His name was placed on a UK home officesecurity watch list, meaning he couldn't
enter the UK in 2009, his father agreedto send him to Yemen to study Arabic.
But once he was there.
His behavior becameincreasingly concerning.
(40:17):
He was the only African among70 students at the school.
Fellow students said he would start eachday at dawn, prayers, then spend hours
in his room reading the Quran afterapparently leaving the institute after
just one month while remaining in country.
He routinely skipped classes andinstead attended lectures at Eman
(40:40):
University, which was known forsuspected links to terrorism.
One classmate said, he told me hisgreatest wish was for Islam to be
the rule of law across the world.
In October, 2009, the situationescalated dramatically.
So Omar sent his father a text messagesaying that he was no longer interested
(41:01):
in pursuing an MBA in Dubai, and hewanted to study Sharia in Arabic in
a seven year course in Yemen whenhis father threatened to cut off his
funding, Omar said that he was alreadygetting everything for free and refused
to identify his financial supporters.
Oh Daddy, I don't need you no more.
(41:21):
Wow.
I'm a big boy.
He sent additional texts statingthat he would be cutting off
contact and disowning his family.
The family last heard from, um, Omar.
In October, 2009, this is when hisfather made the decision that should
have prevented the Christmas day attack.
On November 19th, 2009, he walkedinto the US Embassy in Nigeria
(41:46):
and met with two CIA officers.
He reported his son's extremereligious views and told them that
Omar might be in Yemen with terrorists.
This wasn't a vague concern.
This was a very specificwarning from a credible source.
The CIA's response wasbureaucratically correct, but
(42:06):
ultimately completely inadequate.
They added Omar's name to the terroristidentities data mart environment.
Wow, that's a fun one.
It's called Tide.
It's kind of like Bargain Mart.
Yeah.
We just got some people listed here.
It's fine.
Which is a database that contains550,000 names, 550,000 names.
(42:32):
That's a lot to scroll through.
But they didn't add him to the FBI'sterrorist screening database, which
is the screening for the no fly list.
Mm-hmm.
Most critically, his USvisa was not revoked.
Here's where it gets alittle more frustrating.
US State Department officials latertestified to Congress that they
(42:54):
had wanted to revoke his visa, butintelligence officials asked them not to.
The reasoning was that revokingthe Visa could have foiled a larger
investigation into Al-Qaeda operations.
Mm-hmm.
That is the flip side to the cointhat we already talked about.
That's they're alwaysafter the bigger fish.
(43:15):
And you know, this timeit didn't work out.
Yeah.
This time it's not gonna work out.
Meanwhile, British authoritieshad information that could have
been crucial, but they did notshare with the United States.
The UK's rejection of Omar's Visaapplication and his placement on their
security watch list was not communicatedto US authorities because the Visa
(43:37):
denial was classified as immigrationrather than national security.
Mm mm I am blinking rapidly, oh my gosh.
On November 11th, 2009, BritishIntelligence sent a cable to the
US indicating that a man named UmarFarouk had spoken to Anwar Allah walk.
(44:00):
Pledging to support Jihad, butthe cable didn't include Omar's
last name, making it difficult toconnect to the CIA's existing file.
They basically just gave him, like, theygave them a first name, like not, we
need more, John is gonna kill everybody.
Yes.
Yeah.
Yes.
I mean, come on.
(44:21):
So, by December, 2009, theUS intelligence community had
multiple pieces of a puzzle that.
When assembled clearly pointedto Omar as a significant threat.
His father directly warning theCIA British intelligence reporting
his contact with known terrorists.
His placement on UK security watch listshis extended presence in Yemen, but
(44:46):
these pieces weren't ever put together.
Meanwhile, in Yemen, Omar wasundergoing Al-Qaeda training.
Intelligence officials believed that hemet with Anir Alki, the American born
cleric, who had become an Al-Qaeda's,uh, primary English language recruiter.
(45:11):
He was associated with multipleterrorist plots, including connections
to three of the nine 11 hijackers, um,and also the 2009 Fort Hood shooter.
So real piece of shit.
Human being so Omar then traveledto the mountainous Shawa province
to meet with Al-Qaeda Elements.
(45:33):
A video actually later surfaced showinghim and other people training in a
desert camp, firing weapons at targets,including the star of David, the
British Union Jack, and the letters un
again, like a terrible use of skills.
(45:53):
Whoever is setting up this camp,if they weren't completely nuts.
They could have done like an adorablechildren's camp and instead they're
leading a terrorist operation.
Terrible.
Wow.
It's just really terrible.
Bit of a dreamer.
You are.
I'm just saying it's just a waste.
It's all a waste.
(46:15):
On December 7th, 2009, Omar leftYemen flying to Ethiopia and
then to Ghana on December 9th.
He remained in Ghana until December24th when he flew to Lagos.
During this time, he was fitted withan underwear bomb containing PETN,
which is the same explosive thatReed had actually used in his shoes.
(46:38):
On December 24th, Omarpurchased a ticket with cash.
For KLM flight 5 88.
From logos to Amsterdamconnecting to Northwest Airlines.
Flight 2 53 to Detroit.
He had a Nigerian passportand a valid US tourist visa.
(46:58):
So he looks real up and up on paper.
It's Christmas day sac, December25th, 2009, and Omar boarded Northwest
Airlines Flight 2 53 in Amsterdam.
The flight carried 290 people, 279passengers, and 11 crew members
for most of the nearly eight hourflight, nothing seemed amidst.
(47:19):
He said a mist, a mist.
Omar was traveling alone, seated in19 A, a window seat over the wing.
Oh, that's like my go-to spot.
All right.
About 20 minutes before the scheduledlanding in Detroit, he got up and spent
approximately 20 minutes in the bathroom,which by itself is a very suspicious,
and nobody wants to sit in an airplanebathroom for a long period of time.
(47:42):
The hell you doing for 20 minutesin the bathroom masturbating?
I would've so preferred thatbeing the ending to this story.
How do you, real quick, how do youfeel that he would've been sitting
next to you in your go-to seat?
Well, you want the window too, soyou, yeah, I want the window too.
20 bay.
(48:03):
I don't know.
I, it depends on where we're flying to.
If it's somewhere scenic that I've neverbeen to, I love a window anywhere else.
Like my normal flight from ColoradoSprings to Dallas, I always get an aisle.
That's because you wannajust zip out of there?
I do.
Exactly.
All right.
Uh, let's talk about what hewas doing in the bathroom.
When he returned to his seat, hecovered himself with a blanket.
(48:25):
What passengers couldn't see was thathe was attempting to activate the
explosive device sewn into his underwear.
So it actually probably lookedlike he was masturbating.
God, I just can't get this thing,like doing a weird hand thing in his
underwear under a blanket on an airplane.
Nope.
The device was a six incha packet containing PETN
(48:49):
explosive powder to detonate it.
Omar was supposed to inject it witha liquid from a syringe, creating a
chemical reaction that would causean explosion, but something went
wrong with the detonation sequence.
Instead of exploding,the device caught fire.
Passengers heard poppingsounds and smelled a foul odor.
(49:09):
Somes saw flames.
Could he shit his pants, sorry,
some saw flames on Omar's trouserleg in the wall of the aircraft.
He was literally on fire, sufferingsevere burns to his hands and genitals.
That's what you get.
I mean, karma is a cruel bitch.
So Yesper Singa, a Dutch film directorsitting several rows away, heard the
(49:35):
commotion and saw the flames, and withouthesitation, he jumped over seats to
reach Omar, tackling him and helpingflight attendants extinguish the fire.
Other passengers and crew membersworked together to subdue and
restrain the Woodby bomber.
Omar was moved to the front of theaircraft where he told a flight
attendant he had an explosive device.
(49:58):
Flight 2 53 made an emergency landingin Detroit, uh, metropolitan Airport,
where he was immediately arrestedby US Customs and Border Protection
Officers, and passed right on to the FBI.
He was taken to a hospital fortreatment of his first and second
degree burns to his hands and his gen.
(50:19):
He initially cooperated withinvestigators admitting that he had
been directed by Al-Qaeda and hehad obtained the device in Yemen.
Al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsulalater claimed responsibility, so
they were like, yes, which was us.
Ugh.
They love taking credit.
The aftermath was swift and severe.
(50:39):
Uh, this is president Obama is in office.
He ordered a comprehensive review ofdetection and watch list procedures,
calling the intelligence failures.
Totally unacceptable.
Which it was several highranking officials were
reassigned or they resigned.
The TS a's response was thedeployment of the full body scanner.
(51:06):
Mm-hmm.
These controversial machines, sometimescalled naked scanners by critics used
millimeter wave technology to createdetailed images of your body, potentially
revealing concealed weapons or explosives.
By the end of 2010, around 500 ofthese advanced imaging technology
(51:28):
units were deployed across US airports.
The scanners raised significantprivacy concerns as operators.
I could see, uh, a lot.
I could see a lot.
Show me your genitals.
Your genitals.
Show me your genitals, your genital young.
Oh boy.
Well, these, uh, these machines werereferred to as the virtual strip searches.
(51:52):
All right, let's talk about Omar'slegal proceedings here real quick.
They were complex.
He initially cooperated withinvestigators, and then he stopped talking
after being read his Miranda Rights.
A decision that generated criticismfrom Republican politicians who argued
that he should have been treated as anenemy rather than a criminal defendant.
(52:15):
However, the FBI brought two.
Of Omar's relatives from Nigeriato speak with him and he actually
did begin to cooperate after that.
I wonder if one of 'em was his mom.
Moms, there's something about a momthat really can like, or a sister.
Okay.
Dunno who they were, andI'm not gonna speculate.
(52:36):
In October, 2011 against his lawyer'sadvice, actually he pleaded guilty to
eight federal charges, including attempteduse of a weapon of mass destruction
and attempted murder of 289 people.
On February 16th, 2012, he wassentenced to four consecutive
(52:59):
life sentences, plus 50 yearswithout the possibility of parole.
And he is now in.
Florence, he's in Florence.
He's just a stone throw awayfrom us, so that's cool.
So yeah, he and Reed areactually in prison together.
What makes the underwear bombercase particularly frustrating
(53:22):
is how preventable it was.
This guy was known, he was known,his family knew he should have been
flagged to be unable to get on a plane.
I mean, thank God that other peoplewere not injured and it was just
him and his genitalia, but it'sstill super fucked that he was
(53:43):
even able to get on an airplane.
And ultimately it was the passengersand the crew who stopped this attack.
It always is.
Yeah.
Yeah.
Woof.
Okay.
So we are gonna wrap up part one.
We have reviewed three terroristin incidents that have shaped
modern airport security.
Take off your shoes.
(54:05):
You can only have three ounces ofliquid and you go through the full
body 360 machine imaging machine.
Okay.
So unfortunately what we reallycome down to is that in all of these
cases, TSA never stopped anything.
(54:27):
Anything.
They never really stopped one.
And you know, I feel confident in sayingthat TSA is reactive, not proactive.
So they, when somethinghappens, they go nuts with it.
So here is our big questionthat we're going to try and
answer in our next episode.
(54:48):
Have these measuresactually made us safer?
Well, join us for part two next weekwhere we will examine the TSA shocking
failure rates, screening, testing, uh,the human cost of airport security.
Whew, guys, it's a big number andthe recent policy changes that
have everyone asking if we can keepour shoes on now, what the fuck?
(55:14):
Until then, remember to stow your tradetables, fasten your seat belts, and
prepare for the unexpected, because notevery trip reaches its final destination.
And don't forget to pleaserate and review and subscribe
wherever you get your podcast.
(55:35):
She forgot that one.
I so did, I totally skipped over it.
Good.
Goodbye.
Goodbye.
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