Return to Transcripts main page
CNN Live Sunday
Officials Confirm Man Who Tried to Ignite His Shoes on American Airlines Flight Yesterday Had Explosives Hidden in Shoes
Aired December 23, 2001 - 15:30 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
CAROL LIN, CNN ANCHOR: We've got more details on exactly what happened on American Airlines' flight 63. As 185 passengers were winging their way from Paris to Miami, a man tries to set off what officials now confirm were explosives inside his shoes. Our coverage begins with CNN's Kathleen Koch at Logan Airport in Boston.
Kathleen, do you know more about who this man is?
KATHLEEN KOCH, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yes, Carol, we do. We're told that his name is Richard Reid and that he is 28 years old, that he is a Sri Lanka national, though Scotland Yard does tell us that he has a valid British passport.
Now as you reported, senior Bush administration officials tell us that the FBI lab in Washington has determined that the material that was hidden in these holes drilled into his shoes was of an explosive nature. However, we have not yet confirmed that it was a working bomb that could have actually exploded. Now you -- as you said, he was apparently trying to light some sort of fuse when a flight attendant -- a very observant one on the flight -- smelled the smell of sulfur, and she, and several other passengers, were able to struggle with the man, to detain him, to actually physically tie him to his seat using belts.
Sources tell CNN that there were two doctors on the flight and that they used drugs inside the on board medical kit to sedate him and control him until the plane landed. Now some of the 185 passengers on board that flight continued on to their destinations. Last night, some of them flew on to Miami this morning. While there were at least -- there was one couple -- one young Italian couple, we're told, that was so distraught and so disturbed by what happened that they simply returned home to Italy they were so frightened by the experience.
Now the FAA did -- on December 11 -- issue a security advisory to airlines, saying to be on the lookout for smuggled bomb-making parts in people's shoes. And at that point, there were some airlines that began screening shoes, making passengers remove them and put them through the X-ray machines. Now here at Logan Airport, that only began this morning, after the FAA sent out a second informational circular with additional advice on the subject to airlines around the country.
Now that meant some longer lines here at Logan, but the passengers we talked to said that they didn't mind at all. Though there was one passenger who was a bit upset at the fact that this man -- Mr. Reid -- was traveling overseas with no checked luggage whatsoever, and that didn't arouse any suspicions.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I think it's a good idea. Whatever they have to do to make sure that people are safe is fine with me.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I think it's amazing that any airline would board a passenger in Paris coming to the United States or Asia or anywhere, with no luggage. That is a red flag.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
KOCH: And, Carol, French sources tell CNN that Mr. Reid did try to board this same flight on Friday; however, he missed the flight, didn't make the boarding call because he was being questioned and detained by French police -- Carol.
LIN: Kathleen, you -- you raise some interesting points there. You're saying that he was detained because he didn't check luggage the day before, when he was questioned. That he didn't check luggage and that he didn't quite answer their questions as they had expected. So they detained him, let him go, but then he caught the next day's flight.
What sort of thing are you seeing in terms of security at Logan Airport today? I mean, are they checking people's shoes? Are they questioning people who aren't checking luggage? Is that now a new standard for security?
KOCH: Carol, that's not a new standard, that this would be something that would arouse suspicions. Now, the shoes being checked here at Logan, that is new. But that, again, as I said, has been done by some airports around the country, some airlines since December 11. The reason that the lack of checked luggage is a red flag -- and we could trace this back to an incident back in 1986, when a young, pregnant Irish woman was trying to catch an El Al flight to Tel Aviv. And they question people very intensely on the Israeli airline, and they said, "Well, why are you traveling alone? A pregnant woman, and you don't have any checked luggage and you're going overseas"
Upon careful examination of the carry-on bag that she had, they found that she had three and a quarter pounds of C-4 explosives hidden in the bottom. So if she had boarded that plane, it would have been very deadly consequences for everyone. So ever since then, they have been quite careful.
LIN: All right. Thank you very much, Kathleen Koch, reporting live from Logan International Airport. You can't be too careful these days.
Of course, no one knows better what took on place on flight 63 than the passengers, many of whom are credited today with preventing a possible disaster. When they finally arrived at their scheduled destination, a few passengers talked with reporters about their unplanned diversion to Boston.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
THIERRY DUGEON, FLIGHT 63 PASSENGER: I think that the guy was trying to light up matches. And first he tried and the -- one of the stewardesses was told, came, and asked him to put it out. That he could not do that on the plane. The guy said, "OK," and then the stewardess left, and a couple of minutes later he did it again. And then she tried to stop him, and then there was the -- the fight. Apparently, he was trying to light up his own shoe, which apparently, I've been told, was containing C-4 explosives, but I'm not sure.
LEANDRO BOLANOS, FLIGHT 63 PASSENGER: I was about six or seven seats back from the -- from the culprit. And I was just reading a book, and all of a sudden I heard screaming. The flight attendant was screaming for help. And then I looked up, and I saw her struggling with -- with this guy, who was about 6-foot-6. He had curly black hair tied in the back. And then it seemed like 10 seconds went by before three or four other guys and like launched themselves toward the -- the suspect, I guess. And they pinned him down.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
LIN: Amazing. Well, U.S. Congressman John Mica is a Republican from Florida, but he's also the Chairman of the House Aviation Subcommittee and the co-author of the Aviation Safety Law.
Good afternoon, congressman.
REP. JOHN MICA (R), FLORIDA: Good afternoon. Good to be with you.
LIN: Good to be with you. It's remarkable to hear from these passengers and what they just heard. I want to talk to you about what the passengers did in just a few minutes, but I've got to ask you, you've got a situation now where you've seen a man with apparently explosive materials inside his shoe -- and a book of matches -- gets on an international flight and manages to try to set those shoes on fire. What does that say about the state of aviation safety?
MICA: Well, it shows that we're only as strong as the weakest link. Now, tomorrow we'll begin an investigation of exactly what took place in Paris. There are new measures that have been issued -- directives that have been issued. We'll find out if all of those were adhered to. We'll find out what kind of screening devices were used and why they failed and how he -- he got through. And we'll see that it doesn't happen again.
This is the type of thing, though, that -- again, brave passengers and crew members helped divert an incredible tragedy.
LIN: Yeah, but should passengers now prepare to be combatants as they start boarding planes? It seems like it's the passengers and the flight attendants, now, who are on the front lines.
MICA: Well, I think it doesn't hurt to be alert. But we have a responsibility, and in the bill that we passed through Congress we have measures that will put equipment in place that will be able to detect whether someone walks through a detection vice or checks baggage and detect those explosive materials. Right now, as we speak, some of those measures are being instituted.
LIN: Some of those measures? All right. Well we're looking at some video right now of people having to take off their shoes now at the airport. It just looks extraordinary to me. You know, the next thing you're thinking is that everybody's going to have to be strip searched as they try to get on planes in order to ensure safety.
MICA: Well, that's not necessary. I put $50 million in the bill for research and development. There is equipment that exists right now that will detect explosive materials that you can walk through without, again, being disrupted. It is highly detailed; there's been protests, even of late, by some of the civil liberties folks, because it is so intrusive. But it needs to be deployed.
We only have one or two companies that -- that develop -- have developed this equipment. One is not reliable as the other, so I want to get this equipment under production, developed, so people aren't inconvenienced, they can walk through. We'll be able to detect explosive materials either carried on person, or checked in baggage. And we're planning -- ironically, we're planning meetings with our European counterparts in just a few weeks here to discuss -- discuss what they're doing. And also taking measures to make certain that they're also a strong part of this entire network.
LIN: Yeah, but you can't force them to adopt the same standard of security that we see here in the United States, can you?
MICA: Well, I'll tell you what, they won't be flying planes into the United States. One of the problems I had when I took over as chairman is, we had equipment that was produced some $441 million worth of explosive detection devices. Some of it that worked, some of it that didn't work. But the stuff that did work, I had several rounds with officials, because on these international flights it was not being used, it was not deployed.
It will be deployed, and an airline will not fly into the United States unless they're using the same type of security measures and equipment that's certified by the United States. I guarantee you that.
LIN: But what about these armed federal agents on airplanes? There wasn't one on this flight. I'm just assuming it's because it's an international flight.
MICA: Well, I would -- I would assume that there would have been a sky marshal on that. Most of our international flights with an American carrier in the past have had -- and even the present -- have had sky marshals. But the passengers were the real heroes here. That sky marshal's job was more than likely to protect the cockpit and the pilot from keeping the plane coming down that way.
LIN: Do you know for a fact that there was a sky marshal on this flight?
MICA: I don't, but I will know tomorrow. But my -- my guess is that almost all of our international carriers coming into the States have them.
LIN: All right. Well I guess my question would be, where was he?
MICA: Well, again...
LIN: I hope you find out.
MICA: He has a -- he has a responsibility -- his responsibility is to make certain that they don't take down the plane in a -- in a different matter. We don't -- I don't think anyone knew whether this was a single operator at the time, or there were others -- as we've seen the previous pattern. But we'll get those details. We'll make certain that, again, we -- we keep up with these different forms of terrorism.
But I guarantee you, that equipment will be used and we will develop the equipment and we will deploy the equipment, and that's -- that's underway right now.
LIN: Well, I'm flying home to see my mother tomorrow. What do you tell my mother and all the other Americans who are boarding planes? Is this going to happen again?
MICA: Well, you tell her that we're doing everything humanly possible -- the government is. And, again, even the folks working with airlines, we saw, again, heroism, among both crew members and also passengers. So we have to be alert; we're in a state of war against terrorists. They may try other methods. But we'll get them, and I think working together, others will -- will succeed. They're not going to let this happen, and the government will do everything possible with these new security measures signed into law by the president to get the technology and equipment out as -- again, as soon as humanly possible.
LIN: All right. Would you consider -- just on an offshoot, would you just reconsider that in addition to the flight instructions about securing your safety belt and using a water slide and putting on your oxygen mask that passengers should also be -- also be informed of self defense tactics on flights now?
MICA: Well, that's -- that's something that, again, people have to be aware of. We live in a different world post September 11.
LIN: Yeah.
MICA: And we're all going to have to chip in. But I think we're going to -- we're going to defeat these folks, and I'm very proud of the crew and the passengers that did that. And...
LIN: Yeah, they did an amazing job.
MICA: ... I think we have our job to do, and that's going to done, too.
LIN: Right. I just never imagined boarding a flight and having to tackle one of my fellow passengers. But I guess we have to be prepared for just about everything. Thank you very much, Congressman John Mica, for joining us this morning on this Sunday -- or this afternoon.
MICA: Thank you. Happy holidays.
LIN: Happy holidays to you, and safe travel.
TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com
