2001 shoe bomb plot
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For other incidents onboard flights designated American Airlines Flight 63, see American Airlines Flight 63 (disambiguation).
| 2001 shoe bomb plot | |
|---|---|
 One of the shoes containing the explosive. | |
| Location | En route to Miami, Florida, U.S. from Paris, France |
| Date | December 22, 2001 |
| Target | American Airlines Flight 63 |
| Attack type | Shoe bomb |
| Injured | 0 |
| Belligerent(s) | Richard Reid |
The 2001 shoe bomb plot was a failed bombing attempt that occurred on American Airlines Flight 63Charles De Gaulle International Airport in Paris, France, to Miami International Airport in Miami, Florida, on December 22, 2001. flying from
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[edit] Incident
As Flight 63 was flying over the Atlantic Ocean, Richard Colvin Reid — an Islamic fundamentalist from the United Kingdom, and self-proclaimed Al Qaeda operative — carried shoes that were packed with two types of explosives. He had been refused permission to board the flight the day before.
Passengers on the flight complained of a smoke smell shortly after meal service. One flight attendant, Hermis Moutardier, walked the aisles of the plane to assess the source. She found Reid sitting alone near a window, attempting to light a match. Moutardier warned him that smoking was not allowed on the airplane, and Reid promised to stop.
A few minutes later, Moutardier found Reid leaning over in his seat, and unsuccessfully attempted to get his attention. After she asked him what he was doing, Reid grabbed at her, revealing one shoe in his lap, a fuse leading into the shoe, and a lit match.
She tried grabbing Reid twice, but he pushed her to the floor each time, and she screamed for help. When another flight attendant, Cristina Jones, arrived to try to subdue him, he fought her and bit her thumb.
The 6 feet 4 inch (193 centimeters) tall Reid was eventually subdued by other passengers on the aircraft, using plastic handcuffs, seatbelt extensions, and headphone cords. A doctor administered Valium found in the flight kit of the aircraft.[1] Many of the passengers were aware of the situation when the pilot announced that the flight was to be diverted to Logan International Airport in Boston, Massachusetts.
Two fighter jets escorted Flight 63 to Logan Airport. The plane was parked in the middle of the runway, and Reid was arrested on the ground while the rest of the passengers were bussed to the main terminal. Authorities later found over 100 grams of plastic explosives TATP and PETN hidden in the hollowed soles of Reid's black shoes, enough to blow a substantial hole in the aircraft. He was later convicted, and sentenced to life imprisonment without parole.
[edit] Aftermath
Six months after the crash of American Airlines Flight 587 in Queens, New York, Mohammed Mansour Jabarah agreed to cooperate with American authorities in exchange for a reduced sentence. He said that fellow Canadian Abderraouf Jdey had been responsible for the flight's destruction, using a shoe bomb similar to that found on Reid several months earlier. This claim remains unsubstantiated by the investigation into the cause of the crash, however.
Jabarah was a known colleague of Khalid Sheikh Mohamed, and said that Reid and Jdey had both been enlisted by the al-Qaeda chief to participate in identical plots.[2][3]
Security procedures at US airports have since asked persons to remove their shoes before proceeding through scanners, in response to this incident.[4]
