An Al Qaeda-linked terrorist attempted to blow up a packed commercial jet over Detroit on Friday, but was tackled by heroic passengers as he tried to explode the bomb, officials said.
Nigerian extremist Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab, 23, was subdued immediately aboard Northwest Flight 253 - carrying 278 passengers and 11 crew members - minutes before the plane landed, officials said.
A White House official called the incident "an attempted act of terrorism" and said President Obama was monitoring events.
"It was a fairly sophisticated device," Rep. Pete King (R-L.I.) told the Daily News after counterterrorism officials briefed him. "If it would have worked, he could have brought the plane down."
Obama immediately ordered security tightened at airports across the nation, raising travelers' fears on one of the busiest days of the year.
Abdulmutallab, who suffered third-degree burns, told authorities he got the explosives in Yemen and received orders from Al Qaeda operatives to detonate the device aboard a plane over U.S. soil, officials said.
The suspect, reportedly an engineering student at University College of London, said he had explosive powder taped to his leg.
He confessed to trying to use a chemical-filled syringe designed to ignite the powder, ABC News reported.
King called the explosive "a new device."
"The subject is claiming to have extremist affiliation and that the device was acquired in Yemen along with instructions as to when it should be used," a federal bulletin warned.
King said Abdulmutallab was not on a no-fly list, but was known to have terrorist connections in northern Africa - a hotbed of militant activity.
"He's part of a terrorist nexus," King said.
Officials said Abdulmutallab was traveling one way, without a return ticket. He boarded the Airbus 330 in Amsterdam after transferring from another flight out of Lagos, Nigeria. The flight then continued to Detroit.
Passengers said the frightening incident lasted only a few, chaotic minutes.
Several said they heard a loud popping noise, smelled smoke and then spotted flames leaping from the man's lap.
"It was higher than the seat," Stephanie van Herk, 22, told The Wall Street Journal.
Pandemonium ensued as crew members tried to douse the suspect with water.
Passenger Syed Jafry said that's when a burly man jumped over several seats and tackled the blood-thirsty extremist.
"He took him under his arm and got hold of his neck and then other people helped him," Jafry, who was sitting three rows behind the suspect, told Fox News. "He handled it very well."
"It was terrifying," Richelle Keepman told CNN. "We all thought we weren't going to land, we weren't going to make it."
Once the severely burned terrorist was subdued, he was dragged to the front of the plane and restrained there until the jet landed a few minutes later.
A passenger sitting nearby said the man, his legs charred and his pants cut off, appeared eerily calm.
"He didn't show any reaction to pain or to any feeling of shock or nervousness," said Melinda Dennis. "He just looked like a normal individual."
The heroic passenger was taken to the University of Michigan Medical Center and was still hospitalized Friday night. The extent of his injuries was not revealed. The suspect was being treated at the same hospital under heavy guard and was expected to survive, officials said.
Obama spoke by conference call with national security advisers and then he "instructed that all appropriate measures be taken to increase security for air travel," White House spokesman Bill Burton said in a statement.
Authorities on Friday night were investigating how Abdulmutallab got on the plane with explosives.
The Homeland Security Department said passengers may see additional screening measures on all flights because of the incident.
"We encourage those with future travel plans to stay in touch with their airline and to visit www.tsa.gov for updates," the department said.
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