Nigerian Terrorist on Flight 253

A Nigerian terrorist man tried to light a powder aboard a commercial jetliner before it landed Friday in Detroit in what senior U.S. officials called an attempted act of terrorism.

Flight 253 with 278 passengers and 11 crew members aboard was 20 minutes from the airport when passengers heard popping noises, witnesses said. Passengers saw the attempted attack, and at least one of them jumped on the man and subdued him, airline officials and passengers said.

Federal officials identified the man as Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab, 23, of Nigeria, who was traveling one way, without a return ticket. Dawn Griffith, who was waiting for her husband on the plane, said she saw the man being carted away on a gurney or bed, with his bandaged hands handcuffed to the railing.

The man was being treated at the burn unit of the University of Michigan Medical Center in Ann Arbor, officials said.

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