By Melissa Davies
There has been a second security scare at Detroit Airport on the same NorthWest airlines flight that was attacked on Christmas Day.
Authorities removed a Nigerian man from the plane because they thought he was acting suspiciously, but later found out that he was just ill and not a security threat at all.
Airline staff have been on edge since the failed bomb attempt a few days ago and now US officials say their counter-terrorism policies are under review.
People became suspicious after the man spent an hour in the bathroom, but it turned out he was just sick.
It is an indication of the fear instilled since the Christmas Day attack by Umar Abdulmutallab.
Abdulmutallab has been discharged from hospital and taken to prison, charged with terrorism.
Those who saw him were mystified by his demeanour.
“He looked a lot younger than 23, was very calm, did not appear too outwardly nervous at all and glanced around the room,” said one witness.
“He was completely unemotional; there was absolutely just a blank face. There was no recognition of anything when you looked at him,” said another.
Abdulmutallab grew up in a multi-million dollar apartment in London, where he went to boarding schools and elite universities.
A former teacher says he appeared to support the Taleban.
“All the other kids in the class thought they were just a bunch of nutters, but Umar spoke in their defence.”
Abdulmutallab was on a watch list of 400,000 names, but was not on a no-fly list even though his father had warned American officials about his extreme religious views.
He left London in June, 2008, apparently travelling to Dubai and then Yemen – a hub for al Qaeda.
He snuck into Nigeria on Christmas Eve and flew to Detroit via Amsterdam.
But at this point Homeland Security says it does not appear Abdulmutallab was part of a wider plot.
“Right now we have no indication that it is part of anything larger, but obviously the investigation continues.”
As the investigation evolves airline security has become more stringent – a United Airlines flight from London to the US shut off in-flight entertainment because it also has a map which can track the journey.
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