Northwest Airlines Flight 253

Northwest Airlines Flight 253
Location	Airborne, approaching Detroit Metropolitan Airport, Detroit, Michigan
Coordinates	42°12′58″N 83°21′19″W / 42.2162°N 83.3554°W / 42.2162; -83.3554
Date	December 25, 2009 (2009-12-25) (Eastern)
Target	Civilian airliner
Attack type	Attempted suicide bombing
Weapon	Improvised explosive device
Deaths	0
Injured	3 (including the perpetrator)
Perpetrator	Al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula
Assailant	Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab
Participant	1
Motive	Islamic terrorism
Northwest Airlines Flight 253 Attempted bombing Summary Safe landing following a small explosion and fire in the main cabin Aircraft Aircraft type Airbus A330-323E Operator Northwest Airlines IATA flight No. NW253 ICAO flight No. NWA253 Call sign NORTHWEST 253 Registration N820NW[1] Flight origin Amsterdam Airport Schiphol Destination Detroit Metropolitan Airport Occupants 290 Passengers 279[2] Crew 11[2]

The attempted bombing of Northwest Airlines Flight 253 occurred on December 25, 2009, aboard an Airbus A330 as it prepared to land at Detroit Metropolitan Airport following a transatlantic flight from Amsterdam. Attributed to the terrorist organization al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP), the act was undertaken by 23-year-old Nigerian national Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab using chemical explosives sewn to his underwear.^[3] These circumstances, including the date, led to Abdulmutallab being commonly nicknamed either the "Underwear bomber"^[4] or "Christmas Day bomber" by American media outlets. It also could have been the worst plane crash in the history of Michigan beating out Northwest Airlines Flight 255.

The event was the second airliner bombing attempt in the United States in eight years, following the 2001 American Airlines Flight 63 bombing attempt. If successful, the attack would have surpassed American Airlines Flight 191 as the deadliest airplane crash on U.S. soil and tied Iran Air Flight 655 as the eighth-deadliest of all time. It was also the second event in 2009 involving an Airbus A330 (after the June 1 crash of Air France Flight 447), and the final operational occurrence for Northwest Airlines (preceding that airline's merger with Delta Air Lines the following month).

For his role in the plot, Abdulmutallab was convicted as a civilian criminal in U.S. federal court and sentenced to life imprisonment without parole.^[5] AQAP leader Anwar al-Awlaki, who reportedly inspired Abdulmutallab and "masterminded" the attack,^[6] was killed two years later as the target of a drone strike in Yemen.